Pokemon: Rise of Heroes
by EmperorDraco7
Summary: Join Ash Ketchum, his sister Anna, and their friends as they begin a quest to become the greatest trainers in the world. based mostly on the games, Pokemon Yellow, FireRed, and LeafGreen. Story revised. Rated T for some older audience.
1. Introduction

Disclaimer: Nintendo and Gamefreaks own Pokemon. I own only the OCs. This story is based on the events within the games Pokemon Yellow, FireRed and LeafGreen and some of the events from the anime.

The Characters and their Starter Pokemon

Ashton "Ash" Ketchum: Ash Ketchum (nicknamed Red) is a 10 year old boy who lives in Pallet Town. Ash dreams not only to travel but to also become the world's greatest Pokemon Master. Ash may be hard headed but it doesn't stop him from caring about others. Ash's Starter Pokemon is Pikachu.

Annika "Anna" Ketchum: Anna Ketchum (nicknamed Green) is Ash's 10 year old twin sister. Anna often calls Ash by a childish nickname (Ashy), and in return Ash sometimes calls her childish nicknames back (Anne or Annie). Anna can be a little feisty and stubborn but she is also kind and gentle to the people she cares about. Anna's Starter Pokemon is Squirtle.

Gary Oak: Gary Oak (nicknamed Blue) is Ash's 10 year old rival and the grandson of the famous Professor Samuel Oak. Gary has been Ash's rival since they were both babies and he always takes off with his signature catchphrase 'Smell you later!' Gary's Starter Pokemon is Eevee.

David: David is 10 years old with goldenrod blonde hair and silver-colored eyes. David is a close friend to Ash and Anna who he often calls by their nicknames (Red and Green respectively) and his favorite Pokemon type is grass. David is a friendly person despite his hot headedness. David's Starter Pokemon is Bulbasaur.

Rena: Rena is 10 years old with fiery red flowing hair (which she tied into a ponytail) and purple-colored eyes. Rena is a resident of Viridian city and she is considered a rival for Ash and the other chosen trainers but in a friendly way. Rena's Starter Pokemon is Charmander.

Professor Samuel "Sam"Oak: Professor Samuel Oak is the grandfather of Gary and Daisy. He was a skilled trainer when he was younger, and he dreamed of making a complete guide to every Pokemon around the world. But now that he is old, he hopes that one of his chosen trainers will do what he couldn't.

Brock: Brock is the Pewter city gym leader and he has many brothers and sisters. Brock has hopes of becoming the greatest Pokemon breeder and he is an excellent cook. Brock's first Pokemon is Onix.

Misty: Misty is the gym leader of Cerulean city and an expert on Water Pokemon. Misty is afraid of Bug Pokemon. She is one of the four sensational sisters (the other 3 being her older sisters; Daisy, Lilly, and Violet) and earns the nickname 'The Tomboyish Mermaid' for the way she dresses.

Erika: Erika leads the gym in Celadon City and is also known as the Nature-Loving Princess. She is a serene young woman who specializes in Grass Pokemon and sometimes wears elegant kimonos. Her first Pokemon is Gloom (which she received from her parents as an Oddish when she was a little girl).

Jessica and James: Jessica (Jessie or Jesse for short) and James are members of the evil organization called Team Rocket. Jessie and James have a talking Meowth with them but their primary Pokemon are Ekans and Koffing. They also have a personal motto that they always say when they encounter trainers, and when they are sent flying into the sky, they always say 'Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!'

Taichi: Taichi (Tai for short) is a member of the evil Team Rocket organization. Unlike Jessie and James, Tai is a very skilled and dangerous trainer (and he is not bumbling nor is he buffoonish) and he hates failure. Tai's main Pokemon is Scyther but he also has a Pinsir for backup.


	2. The Journey Begins

Disclaimer: Pokemon belongs to Nintendo. There are things taking place that will differentiate it from the show and some of the characters would be portrayed differently.

Pokemon: Rise of Heroes

The Journey Begins

By EmperorDraco7

"Well, today is the big day. Today we get our first Pokemon and leave Pallet Town to begin our journey," said Anna Ketchum, excited about getting a Pokemon from Professor Oak, and sad that she and her brother would be leaving home.

"Yeah, I'm going to miss mom," her brother replied in sadness.

"Me too, Ash, but don't worry, we'll see her again soon," said Anna.

"I hope so, Sis."

"I wonder if David and Rena are at Professor Oak's lab." Ash began thinking about their conversation with their friends David and Rena yesterday.

* * *

Flashback

* * *

_"So this is it," said David._

_"Tomorrow we go our separate ways and begin our Pokemon Journey," said Rena._

_"I hope if we were to ever battle each other, it wouldn't affect our friendship," said Ash._

_Rena simply smirked at Ash for a moment. "Don't worry. We will still be friends even if we become rivals."_

_"Thanks Rena," said Anna as Ash remembered something._

_"I almost forgot." Ash looked in his bag and took out half of a Pokeball._

_"What is that, Red?" asked David, calling Ash by his nickname._

_"It looks like half of a Pokeball," said Anna as she, David, and Rena took a closer look._

_Ash nodded and his expression darkened. "It is a Pokeball, one that was split in half, and Gary has the other half of it."_

_"Blue has the other half of this Pokeball?" asked David, referring to Gary by nickname. Ash nodded._

_"I was fishing on a nearby river when I noticed Gary was fishing there as well. I didn't even see him when I first got there but when I started to fishing there he was. He started to talk about fishing tips and that he knows that Magikarp is the weakest Pokemon; he made me look like an idiot!"_

_He noticed that the others were laughing silently and was annoyed by it. "Yeah, laugh it up."_

_"Sorry Ash, but we couldn't resist and it was a bit funny."_

_"And besides you can't capture a fish Pokemon without a Pokeball," said Anna._

_"That's what Gary said. Anyway, when Gary and I went back to fishing, both our rods felt something. We carefully reeled our lines in and we were shocked to see what we had hooked: it was the Pokeball. We were so busy arguing about who gets the Pokeball that we pulled we so hard, the ball broke in half."_

_Anna, David, and Rena were silent as Ash continued. "We each got half of the ball and just when I decided to call it a draw, Gary snapped at me saying that having tied with me is just as bad as losing."_

_"Same old Gary," Rena shook her head. She had always known that Gary was someone you don't want to mess with in anything about Pokemon but she was sure as hell not going to lose to him or anyone in battle._

_"I'll say."_

_"Just wait and see, I'm gonna become the world's greatest Pokemon Master," said Ash._

_Rena was smirking once again. "Oh really?"_

_"We'll see about that," said David._

_"Now that's the spirit of true trainers" said Anna._

_With that, Ash, Anna, Rena and David each put out a hand and held them on top of one another. "Let's give it everything we got, and no matter what, we will always be friends," said Rena. "For Pallet Town."_

_"For Pallet Town!"_

* * *

End of Flashback

* * *

"We better hurry before all of the Pokemon are gone. Catch you later," said Anna, running off.

Ash thought of something: David and Rena aren't the only ones getting prepared. His rival Gary must be preparing to begin his journey too. Just the thought of Gary made Ash mad.

Clenching his fist, Ash took a deep breath. "Okay, here we go," he said with a determined look on his face.

After getting dressed, withdrawing a potion from their respective PCs, and saying goodbye to their mother, Delia, Ash and Anna split up. Ash decided to go next door to Gary's house while Anna went to Professor Oak's Lab.

"Hi, Ash," said Gary's sister, Daisy.

"Hi, Daisy."

"If you're looking for Gary, you're out of luck. He already left for Grandpa's lab," said Daisy. Ash didn't like the sound of that.

"He did? When did he leave?" he asked.

"Sometime ago. Why do you ask?"

"I just wanted to know. I better get going now"

"Okay. Bye, Ash."

"Bye."

Ash wondered where to go next. "Wait a minute, I need Pokeballs in order catch Pokemon," he said. However, just as Ash got to the grass he heard someone saying "Wait! Don't go out!"

"Huh?" Ash turned around to find himself face to face with Prof. Oak himself. "Professor Oak?"

"Ash, it's too dangerous to go off by yourself. You need your own Pokemon to protect you."

"Professor Oak, I…" Ash never got to finish as Prof. Oak took Ash by his arm and leads him to the lab. Once at the lab, Ash noticed that there was a trainer already there. "There you are, Grandpa; I was getting tired of waiting," said the trainer.

Ash immediately recognized the voice of the trainer. "Gary?"

"Well, if it isn't Ash Ketchum. Better late than never," snickered Gary.

Ash was getting mad. "It doesn't matter, I'm here now!" he yelled.

"I'm glad you're here, Gary," said Prof. Oak. "Now when I was young, I was a serious Pokemon Trainer. But now, I'm old and I only have two Pokemon left."

"Wait, two left?" asked Ash in disbelief.

"Yes, I already gave Bulbasaur, Charmander, and Squirtle to three trainers who were already here," said Prof. Oak.

"How can you have two Pokemon left if you already gave the main three to three other trainers?" asked Gary.

"Let's just say I've been saving these two for a special occasion," said Prof. Oak, revealing to Ash and Gary two Pokeballs.

Each rival took one Pokeball. "Thanks, Professor," Ash sighed, relieved that he finally had his first Pokemon. However, just as Ash was about to leave, he heard Gary calling to him.

"Well Ash, lets have a Pokemon battle. Lets see who is stronger, you or me," said Gary.

Ash stopped and turned to face Gary. "A Pokemon battle? You're on!" he said with a determined look on his face.

"Oh, boy," said Prof. Oak. "Ash, I should warn you. There is a problem with the Pokemon I gave to you."

"If Gary wants to have a battle with me, then so be it," said Ash.

"Alright," said Prof. Oak. _Ash is reckless as always,_ he thought.

Ash and Gary threw their respective Pokeballs into the air and in a flash of white light, two Pokemon emerged and were ready to battle. Ash's Pokemon was a yellow-colored mouse with sparks coming out of its cheeks, while Gary's was a small, brown-colored cat-like Pokemon with what appeared to be a white lion's mane-like neck.

"Pikachu!"

"Eevee!"

"Okay, Pikachu, use Thundershock!" ordered Ash. Pikachu shot out a blast of electricity at Eevee, shocking the cat-like Pokemon who shook itself afterwards.

"Oh yeah? Eevee, Tackle!" yelled Gary. Eevee charged at Pikachu, hitting it in the chest and sending the electric mouse falling back.

"Pikachu, use Thundershock again!" said Ash. Pikachu recovered and shocked Eevee for the second time. Gary was getting angry.

"Eevee, Tail Whip!" Eevee got up and moved its tail back and forth as Pikachu let its defenses down and looked at Eevee.

"Now use Tackle!" Eevee charged into Pikachu. A little shaken, Pikachu got back onto its feet.

"Oh no."

"Eevee, end this battle with Tackle!" ordered Gary. With that, Eevee charged towards Pikachu.

_There is no way I'm going to lose to someone like Gary,_ thought Ash. "Pikachu, dodge it and use Thundershock!" he commanded.

Pikachu moved out of the way and scored a direct hit on Eevee with Thundershock. Pikachu then whipped its tail, which sent Eevee crashing onto the ground. The cat-like Pokemon tried to get up, but it dropped back onto the ground.

"No way!" said Gary in shock.

"I won," said Ash in disbelief, which then changed to excitement as he jumped into the air. "Alright I won!"

"Don't get too comfortable, Ash! I'm going to train my Eevee to make it stronger. When we battle again you won't be so lucky! Smell ya later!" said Gary as he withdrew Eevee and angrily took off.

"Congratulations, Ash!" said Prof. Oak.

"Thank you, Professor" said Ash before turning his attention to Pikachu. "Okay, Pikachu, return!" Ash held the Pokeball as red light came out of the center. However, Pikachu moved out of the way.

"Pikachu, stay still," said an annoyed Ash as he tried to recall Pikachu who moved again from where the red light would hit it.

"Pikachu!" Ash was getting mad. After 5 more times, Ash turned to Prof. Oak. "Professor, I can't recall Pikachu! He keeps moving to another spot."

"I see," said Prof. Oak, looking at Pikachu. "I think the reason for its behavior is because it dislikes Pokeballs."

"What?" asked a confused Ash.

"The only option is to let Pikachu hang with you. That should make it happy," said Prof. Oak.

"Well, okay. Let's go, Pikachu," said Ash before heading for the exit.

"Pi," Pikachu sighed and followed Ash.

_I have a strange but good feeling about Ash. If he trains his Pokemon with love and trust, he might surpass even the elite four,_ thought Prof. Oak.

* * *

Ash had left Pallet Town and was traveling on route 1. "Okay, my journey begins," he said as he continued walking with Pikachu beside him, the small animal looking bored with its new trainer.

"Hey, you!" Ash heard a voice from behind him and turned to see a young man with dark brown hair approaching him.

"What is it?"

"I work at a Pokemon Mart! It's a convenient shop, so please visit us in Viridian City!" said the young man.

"Alright," said a confused Ash.

"Here! Take this!" said the young man, taking a potion out of his bag and handing it to Ash. "Don't worry, it's free!" he reassured the boy.

"Thanks," said Ash as he put the potion into his bag. "So where is Viridian City?"

"It's straight ahead! You can't miss it!" replied the man, pointing North.

"Thanks again!" said Ash as he and Pikachu ran off.

"You're welcome!"

After a few minutes of running, Ash and Pikachu arrived at Viridian City. "So this is Viridian City," said Ash, astounded by the sight of the city.

"Pika!" said an equally astounded Pikachu.

"The man told us to visit the Pokemon Mart, so I wonder where it is?" asked Ash looking around to see if it was in Viridian City.

Pikachu helped and eventually it cried out. "Pikachu!"

"What is it Pikachu?" asked Ash as Pikachu ran off. Ash followed until they saw a store.

"You found it," said Ash before he and Pikachu entered the store.

"Look at that!" both Ash and Pikachu were looking at the items in the store. Just then the shopkeeper of the Pokemon Mart noticed them.

"Hey! Do you know a man named Professor Samuel Oak?" asked the shopkeeper.

"Yeah, I do. Why do you ask?" asked Ash, a bit confused, as he went to the counter.

"Because a parcel just arrived yesterday," said the shopkeeper. "I hope you will deliver it to him for me."

"Okay," said Ash, taking the parcel and putting it into his bag. _Looks like it's back to Pallet Town for us,_ he thought as he and Pikachu left the Pokemon Mart.

* * *

An hour later, Ash and Pikachu were back in Pallet Town and went straight to Professor Oak's Lab.

"Hey, Professor!" Ash called out to Professor Oak who was busy at a table.

"Huh?" asked Oak as he turned around to see Ash and his starter coming towards him. "It's good to see you again, Ash!" he said with a smile.

"Yeah, I just came back because the owner of the Pokemon Mart told me to give you this," said Ash, taking the parcel out of his bag and giving it to Professor Oak.

"It's the custom Pokeball that I ordered! Thank you very much, Ash!" said an excited Professor Oak, placing the parcel onto the table on his left. "By the way, I have something I want to tell you."

"What is it?" asked Ash.

Just then Gary arrived. _Oh great, why did he have to show up?_ thought Ash as he darkly glared at Gary.

"I'm glad you could make it, Gary, I have a request for the both of you," said Professor Oak as he went to the table and picked up two red computer-like devices and handed them to Ash and Gary.

"What is it?" asked Ash, confused.

"These are my latest inventions. I call them the Pokedex. They automatically record the data on Pokemon you see or capture. It is a high-tech encyclopedia," explained Professor Oak. "Also, you'll need these Pokeballs to capture Pokemon," he said while giving five Pokeballs to Ash and five to Gary.

"Thanks, Professor," said Ash before remembering something. "What about Anna, Rena, and David?" he asked.

"Yeah! What about those other losers?" asked Gary, which made Ash mad at his rival's comment on his friends and sister.

"Don't worry, I already gave them their Pokedexes and Pokeballs. I'm giving you two the same mission as them," said Professor Oak.

"What is it?" asked Ash and Gary in unison.

"I want you to fulfill my dream and fill your Pokedexes with the information on every Pokemon in the world! Now get going, this is a great undertaking in Pokemon history!" said Professor Oak.

"Got it, you can count on me! First I'll borrow a map from Daisy and tell her not to give you one, Ash, so don't bother going to my place!" said Gary before exiting the lab.

"I'll show you!" said Ash as he and Pikachu ran off.

Ash went straight to Gary's house and explained to Daisy that he was sent to fill the Pokedex with the information on Pokemon around the world. Daisy was surprised at what she heard. "That's incredible! I think you'll need this," said Daisy giving Ash a map of the entire Kanto region.

* * *

'Thanks, Daisy" he said, putting the map into the key pocket of his backpack.

"Don't mention it. Your sister came earlier and told me the same thing, so I gave her an extra map! I couldn't believe that you and my brother are on the same mission," Daisy smiled.

"Me neither," said Ash silently. "Anyway, I better get going!" he added as he went out the door.

"Good luck, Ash!"

Soon Ash and Pikachu were on the route back to Viridian City. "Okay, time for me to take the first step in becoming the number one Pokemon Master," said Ash with a determined look on his face.

Suddenly he saw a brown colored bird Pokemon coming out of the grass and glaring at Pikachu who glared back. "What is that?" asked Ash as he took out his Pokedex.

_Pidgey, the tiny bird pokemon. It is very docile. If attacked, it will often kick up sand to protect itself rather than fight back._

"Alright, a Pokemon!" said Ash in excitement. "Okay, Pikachu, use Thundershock!" he ordered.

Pikachu fired a blast of electricity from its body and electrocuted the Pidgey. The Pidgey counterattacked by blowing sand into Pikachu's face. "Pikachu, are you okay?" asked Ash as Pidgey tackled Pikachu.

"Oh man," said Ash as Pidgey charged towards Pikachu again. But then he remembered when he battled Gary and his Eevee. "I got it! Pikachu, jump and use Thundershock!" he ordered.

Pikachu jumped into the air and managed to shock Pidgey once again. The Pidgey dropped onto the ground. "Pokeball, go!" Ash threw an empty Pokeball at Pidgey. The tiny bird Pokemon was consumed by red light and sucked into the ball.

Ash stared as the ball violently began shaking back and forth. Eventually, the ball stopped. "Yes, I caught Pidgey!" he cheered as he picked up the Pokeball that now contained Pidgey.

"Pika!" said Pikachu, relieved that it was over.

"Alright!" said Ash before he saw something in the sky. It was a golden colored bird flying towards the setting sun. "I wonder what that is." Ash took his Pokedex out again to find out what it was.

_Unknown Pokemon. No information available._

"No information, huh?" said Ash, putting his Dex away. "It's getting late. We should get to Viridian City and find a place to rest until morning," he told Pikachu.

"Chu," said Pikachu, nodding, and the two ran off to Viridian City.


	3. The Pokemon League

Disclaimer: See chapter 1. I haven't received any reviews. I hope to receive some, but I don't like flames; I will block flamers!

Pokemon: Rise of Heroes

The Pokemon League

By EmperorDraco7

Ash and Pikachu had returned to Viridian City, and were looking around to see if they could find a place to stay for the night. He eventually found the Pokemon Center and they found a few trainers inside.

Ash noticed a pink Pokemon wearing a nurse cap behind the front desk and took out his Pokedex.

_Chansey, the egg Pokemon. It is a gentle and kind-hearted Pokemon that shares its nutritious eggs if it sees an injured Pokemon._

"Can I help you?"

He turned to see the nurse, standing next to the Chansey, starring at him. "Sorry for asking, but is that Chansey yours?" The nurse nodded.

"Yes, why do you ask?"

Ash simply shrugged. "I wanted to make sure, that's all. My name's Ash Ketchum by the way."

The nurse smiled. "I'm Nurse Joy, I run the Pokemon Center in Viridian City. It's very nice to meet you, Ash."

Nurse Joy healed Ash's Pikachu and Pidgey. He thanked her before going to the room he was assigned to.

* * *

The next day, Ash began searching for more Pokemon to capture. He looked around in the tall grass. He eventually took notice of a purple rat Pokemon and looked into his Pokedex.

_Rattata, the rat Pokemon. Rattata will chew on anything with its fangs. If you see one, it is certain that 40 more live in that area._

"Alright, go Pidgey!" Ash sent his new Pokemon into battle against the Rattata. "Tackle it!"

Pidgey flew forward, smashing into the rat. The Rattata charged and smashed into the Pidgey, sending the bird flying backwards.

Pidgey tackled the Rattata once again. The rat pokemon dropped onto the ground almost instantly. Ash threw a Pokeball at the dizzy Rattata, capturing it.

"Yeah, I got a Rattata!" Ash yelled out excitedly.

After recalling Pidgey, Ash looked at the map that Daisy had given him. "Okay, where should we go now?"

He looked at the map for about a minute before he decided to go left of Viridian city, but it was during that time that he noticed a familiar female trainer looking around the tall grass. "Anna?"

"Huh?" Anna turned around to face Ash, surprised to see him. "Ash, what are you doing here?"

"I should ask you the same thing," said Ash as he walked towards his sister.

Anna sighed. "I was looking for Pokemon to capture; I am a Pokemon trainer now."

"Same with me, so did you catch any yet?"

She smiled. "I did manage to capture a Nidoran a while back. What about you?"

"I got a Pidgey and a Rattata," he replied with his boyish grin.

Anna laughed briefly before turning around to the other direction. Just then a voice stopped her in her tracks. "Well, aren't we in a bit of a hurry for the Pokemon League?"

Ash and Anna turned to notice none other than Gary Oak approaching them. "What do you want, Gary?" asked Ash.

Gary simply shrugged, grinning at the other two trainers. "I'm saying that the guards won't let you two in since you don't have any badges."

Anna growled at Gary's comment. "Oh and you do?"

"Not yet, but it doesn't matter because you two losers won't get in my way when I become the champion," he snickered

"We'll see about that! Go, Nidoran!" Anna released a small light blue Pokemon and Gary looked into his Pokedex.

_Nidoran (female), the poison pin Pokemon. It is a mild –mannered Pokemon that does not like to fight. Beware; its small horns secrete venom._

Gary grinned before taking out one of his Pokeballs and releasing a brownish bird Pokemon that looks a lot different than a Pidgey. "Uh oh" said Anna, looking into her Pokedex.

_Spearow, the tiny bird Pokemon. Spearow is inept at flying high. However, it can fly around very fast to protect its territory._

"Nidoran, use Tackle!"

"Spearow, dodge it and use Peck attack!"

Nidoran ran towards the Spearow but the bird took flight and began pecking on its opponent. "Nidoran, tackle it!"

Nidoran smashed into the Spearow, sending it flying backwards. "Spearow, peck it again!"

Spearow flew towards the Nidoran. "Quick, dodge it!"

Nidoran moved out of the range of Spearow's attack. "Tackle!"

The poison pin ran up and crashed into the Spearow. "Now, use Scratch!"

Nidoran scratched Spearow in the face, sending the bird Pokemon crash-landing onto the dirt. Spearow was unable to continue fighting. Gary withdrew his fallen Pokemon.

"Way to go, Anna!" cheered Ash, rooting for his sister.

Gary sent out his Eevee, Anna was surprised by this and looked into her Pokedex once again.

_Eevee, the evolution Pokemon. Its genetic code is unstable, so it could evolve in a variety of ways. There are only a few alive._

She recalled her Nidoran and replaced it with her Squirtle. Ash consulted his Pokedex to learn about Squirtle.

_Squirtle, the tiny turtle Pokemon. It shoots water at prey while in the water. It withdraws into its shell when in danger._

"Squirtle, tackle!"

"Sand Attack, Eevee!"

The Squirtle ran towards Eevee but was blinded by the sand kicked into its face, causing its attack to miss. "Tackle!"

Eevee tackled Squirtle, the tiny turtle landing on the ground hard, Anna gritted her teeth in anger. "Squirtle, tackle it!"

The Squirtle tackled Eevee right back. "Eevee, use tackle!"

Eevee got up and charged towards Squirtle. "Dodge it and use your own tackle!"

Squirtle dodged the attacked and smashed into Eevee, sending it flying into the air briefly. "Now Bubble!"

The tiny turtle Pokemon shot bubbles from its mouth, scoring a direct hit on its opponent. Eevee crashed onto the ground, unable to continue the battle.

Anna began jumping for joy and she was very excited. "Yes, I won!"

"Way to go, Anna!"

Gary glared at Anna before he recalled his fainted Eevee. "You just got lucky, but don't get too confident. The Pokemon League has many powerful trainers; I'm going to train hard so that I can defeat them."

With that said, Gary takes off. Ash, Pikachu, and Anna returned to Viridian city, thinking about what they had learned.

"You know, Anna. Gary does have a point about this; the Elite 4 are too strong for us right now."

Anna nodded. "Yeah, you're right. We should focus on winning those eight gym badges before we even think about going to the Pokemon League."

"Did you say that you two are planning on competing in the Pokemon League?" Nurse Joy interrupted.

"Yes, we are," Ash nodded. "We need to know if there is a Pokemon Gym here in Viridian city."

"Yes, there is, but the only problem is that it's closed right now."

Ash and Anna looked disappointed when they heard that. "However, there is the Pokemon Gym in Pewter City."

This cheered both trainers up. "There's one in Pewter city?"

Nurse Joy nodded before her smile faded. "That's right, but you have to go through the Viridian Forest in order to get to Pewter City."

"We understand," said Anna before looking at her Town Map. "Pewter City is north from here; she is right about us having to go through the Viridian Forest though."

"Alright, as soon as we get supplies we head out to Pewter City." Ash had that gleam of determination in his eyes.

* * *

Ash and Anna bought 2 Potions, Antidotes, Paralyze Heals, and 5 additional Pokeballs each before they began their trek to Pewter City. They met an old man who taught them how to catch a Pokemon and gave them each a Teachy TV.

While traveling through Route 2, Anna then realized something that she hadn't noticed before. "Say, how come your Pikachu isn't inside its Pokeball?"

Ash sighed. "I don't really want to talk about it, Anna."

"Whatever you say, Ashy," Anna smirked at her brother; he flinched when she said his name like that while Pikachu laughed a bit.

The two trainers saw the Viridian Forest dead ahead and looked at each other before nodding. "Okay, here we go," said Ash as they entered the forest.

"This place sure looks dark and a bit scary," Anna remarked, noting how there was little sunlight thanks to the trees being so thick. "It is easy to get lost here too."

"Yeah, how about we split up? Pikachu and I are going to go right and you can go forward."

Anna looked surprised at Ash for a moment. "Alright, but be careful."

"Don't worry, I will," said Ash before he and Pikachu headed right. He began looking around on the right, hoping to find an exit to the forest. Just then he noticed a Pokemon climbing a tree and looked into his Pokedex.

_Caterpie, the worm Pokemon. If you touch the feeler on the top of its head, it will release a horrible stink to protect itself._

Ash looked excited before releasing his Pidgey. The Caterpie took notice and shot string from its mouth. The Pidgey managed to fly out of the way. "Pidgey, tackle it!"

Pidgey smashed into Caterpie full on. The worm Pokemon got back up and tackled Pidgey back. "Pidgey, use Sand-Attack!"

Pidgey flapped its wings and sand went into the Caterpie's eyes, lowering its accuracy. "Now use Gust!"

Pidgey formed a gust which consumed the Caterpie and made it spin around and around until it smashed into a nearby tree. Ash took out an empty Pokeball and threw it at the Caterpie, capturing it.

Suddenly he heard a voice begin squealing. "Oh my, you have a Pikachu!"

He turned to notice a lass coming towards him and Pikachu in amazement. "I looked all over this forest but I never found a Pikachu, I can't believe I actually get to see one!"

Ash looked surprised. "You were looking for a Pikachu in this forest?"

"Yes, I have" the lass nodded. "Would you like to have a battle with me? I haven't fought against a trainer for a while."

Ash smiled. "Sure, let's go!"

"Here we go, Nidoran!" the lass threw a Pokeball into the air, releasing a familiar blue Pokemon.

Ash looked at Pidgey and nodded to it. "Alright, Pidgey use tackle!"

Pidgey flew towards the female Nidoran. "Dodge it and use your scratch attack!"

The Nidoran dodged the attack before jumping up and scratched Pidgey with a single swipe of her claw.

"Pidgey use Gust attack!" ordered Ash. Pidgey began creating a gust that formed around Nidoran, sending the poison pin flying around before she landed on her feet.

The lass glared at the Pidgey for a moment then turned to her Nidoran. "Tackle it!"

"Sand-Attack!"

Pidgey blinds the Nidoran with sand, causing the tackle to miss. "Now use your tackle!"

Pidgey flew towards Nidoran and hit her on the chest with its head; she tried to get up but fell back down. "No, Nidoran!"

The lass withdrew her fainted Pokemon and sent out a different one. It was purple and had long ears, but was the same size as the Nidoran. Ash looked at his Pokedex to find out what it was.

_Nidoran (male), the Poison Pin Pokemon. Its large ears are always kept upright. If it senses danger, it will attack with a poisonous sting._

"Alright, lets…" Ash didn't finish as he noticed that his Pidgey was coughing. "Are you okay?"

The lass began giggling and pointed to her Nidoran's horn. "Didn't you know? The horn on my Nidorans is very poisonous and your precious Pidgey has just been poisoned."

_Oh great, I better finish this fast then._ Thought Ash before turning his attention towards his flying-type Pokemon. "Pidgey, use Tackle!"

"Dodge it and use Poison Sting!"

The purple Nidoran avoided the Tackle and shot poisonous pins, which hit the Pidgey from behind. "Now use your own Tackle!"

Nidoran smashed into Pidgey and sent it flying. "Pidgey!"

Pidgey crashed onto the ground and fainted, forcing Ash to return it into its Pokeball. _Okay, which Pokemon should I use now? I can't risk getting anyone poisoned again and there's no way that I'm going to give up._ He noticed Pikachu entering the battlefield.

"Pikachu? You want to battle?"

(You bet I am,) replied Pikachu with a serious look on his face as he stared at his trainer, waiting for an order.

"Alright, here we go" said Ash before his eyes hardened. "Pikachu, Thundershock!"

Pikachu used his infamous electric attack and shocked the Nidoran right on the spot. "Nidoran, Tackle!"

Nidoran shook itself and charged at Pikachu, hitting the electric mouse on the chest. Just then a jolt of electricity hit the Nidoran and it was unable to move. "Oh no, he's been paralyzed!" exclaimed the lass in disbelief.

"Did Pikachu do that?"

Ash felt bad for Nidoran but knew he had to end the battle right now. "Use Thundershock once again!" he ordered.

Pikachu nodded and electrified the now paralyzed Nidoran with everything he had; the Poison Pin dropped to the ground and fainted. The battle was over.

"Nido!" The lass went over to her exhausted Pokemon and Ash couldn't help but smile at her. He then went over towards his opponent.

"Is it okay?"

The lass remained silent and slowly nodded before she placed Nidoran back into his Pokeball. "You were really good earlier."

"You think so?"

"I know so," said Ash as Pikachu ran up onto his right shoulder.

"Thank you, I hope to battle you again someday," the lass smiled before standing up and extending her hand.

Ash took notice of this and took her hand into his in a firm handshake. "I hope we meet again too."


	4. Challenges and Evolutions

Disclaimer: I do not own Pokemon, but if I did, then Ash would have been the champion of one of the Pokemon Leagues from the video games. Yes, I am aware that he became the champion of the Orange League, but that doesn't count.

Challenges and Evolutions

By EmperorDraco7

Anna was searching high and low. She really wanted to capture another Pokemon so that she would be able to catch up to her brother, whom she didn't know had added a new member to his team after splitting up from her. So far, she wasn't having much luck and she let out a small sigh.

"This is going to be a lot tougher than I thought," she admitted, wondered if Ash was having a better time than she was, but determined not to give up. It took a few more minutes before she finally found a Pokemon eating leaves off of a nearby bush; she smiled to herself before taking out her Pokedex.

_Weedle, the Hairy Bug Pokemon. Beware of the sharp stinger on its head. It hides in grass and bushes where it eats leaves_

"About time…." said Anna, relieved at the sight of the Weedle, and took out one of her Pokeballs. "Now let's see what you can do. Nidoran, I choose you!" she released her Nidoran so that she would be able to battle against the Hairy Bug, which looked shocked at the sudden appearance of the Poison Pin. The Weedle fired a Poison Sting attack at her but only caused minor damage.

"You have to do better than that!" laughed Anna before nodding to her Pokemon, who responded by nodding back to her. "Alright, use Scratch!"

The Nidoran jumped at Weedle with her right paw in the air and hit it with a single swipe of her claws, injuring the Hairy Bug and pushing it back with the force of the attack. Anna hoped that it would be weak enough to capture as she brought out an empty Pokeball. "This had better work. Pokeball, go!" She threw the ball and it sucked Weedle inside. It shook violently for a few seconds before letting out a small sound.

"Yeah, I caught a Weedle!" She jumped for joy and squealed at having added a new Pokemon to her current lineup. "Thanks, Nidoran. Now it's time for us to train before meeting up with Ash. Boy will he be jealous when I tell him the news!"

Nidoran smiled before she heard something from behind, causing her to turn around to find out what it was. (That's strange) she said to herself with a confused expression on her face. (I could have sworn I heard something behind me. Then again I might just be hearing things.)

"Is something wrong?" she heard Anna asking her with a hint of concern in her voice.

Nidoran shook her head, frowning, even though she was still thinking about the sound and where it was coming from. (It's nothing, don't worry about it.)

"Alright, if that's what you say then let's get going." She led the Poison Pin off deeper into the forest to see if they could get some training done. Knowing Ash, he was also training his Pokemon and she needed to be ready should they prepare themselves as well.

* * *

Just as Anna suspected, Ash was in another part of the Viridian Forest training each of his Pokemon so that they would be ready to face off against the Gym Leader of Pewter City. He was also training his Caterpie as he may be a Bug Pokemon but the young boy wanted to make him as strong as possible.

"You're doing great, Caterpie," he complimented his newest team member with a smile, causing the bug to turn to look at him with excitement. "Maybe we can show Anna just how strong we're getting in a battle."

Ash watched and was happy to see each of his friends growing stronger throughout their training; he knew that they wouldn't let him down. "Use Vine Whip!" they heard a voice from out of nowhere. Curious, they took off to the right in search of the source. After about a minute, they saw a battle that was taking place between two Pokemon, one of which was in front of a purple–haired male with a serious expression on his face. From what Ash could tell, it looked really exhausted from the fighting.

Ash took out his Pokedex to find out what the plant-looking Pokemon was.

_Bellsprout, the Flower Pokemon. It prefers hot and humid places. It ensnares tiny insects with its vines and devours them._

The raven-haired trainer was worried about the Bellsprout and looked towards its opponent, who was equally as tired, but was still capable of putting up a fight, before checking the Pokedex again.

_Pidgeotto, the Bird Pokemon. The evolved form of Pidgey. This Pokemon is full of viability. It constantly flies around its large territory in search of prey._

_What's that guy thinking?_ He thought as he watched the battle taking place, becoming even more concerned for Bellsprout because of this. _Doesn't he realize that it's only a matter of time before his Pokemon is unable to continue fighting?_

"You better not lose," said the purple-haired trainer with a scowl before seeing the Pidgeotto using a Gust attack on Bellsprout, causing serious damage to the Flower Pokemon due to its weakness to Flying-Type attacks. "Use Vine Whip again, this time it better hit!"

Bellsprout slowly got up and lashed a green vine out at Pidgeotto, hitting the Bird in the face and sending it crashing onto the ground. The trainer then threw a Pokeball at the wild Pokemon and watched as it shook repeatedly for a few seconds before letting out a small beep.

Meanwhile, Ash couldn't believe what he had just witnessed. How could anyone force their Pokemon to continue battling while knowing that it was almost too weak to go on? Without thinking, he approached the other boy, who had recalled his Bellsprout, with a dark glare.

"What's your problem? Your Bellsprout was tired and yet you had it continue battling against a Pokemon that had a Type advantage!"

The boy took notice of Ash but showed no emotion. "Who do you think you are telling me this crap?"

"Just someone who knows how to treat his Pokemon better!" snapped Ash, not caring about what he was currently saying but wanting to give that creep a piece of his mind. "Take a look at my Pokemon!" he pointed to Pikachu, Pidgey, Rattata and Caterpie, who nodded their heads. "You don't see me pushing them the way you did!"

With that response, the other trainer grabbed Ash by the collar. "Listen carefully, as I'm not going repeat myself. I don't care about weak Pokemon and if you get in my way, I will make your life a living hell!" he threatened before letting Ash go and taking his leave with one parting remark. "By the way, my name is Paul and I am going to become the strongest trainer ever."

Ash remained silent and got back onto his feet; he knew that creep needed to be taught a lesson, especially if he continued to force his Pokemon to keep fighting even when they were just about to faint in battle. "Asshole…"

Several hours passed and both Ash and Anna were training their Pokemon hard, but it was only a matter of time before they met up again. Pikachu heard some bushes rustling, causing him and Ash to check it out.

"Hey, Ash!" popping out was none other than Anna, surprising both Ash and Pikachu. "It's about time I found you; catch any new Pokemon while I was away?"

"Sure did, and I got some training done afterwards," replied Ash with a confident grin. "What about you?"

"Same here; I thought that you would be surprised at what I caught."

"Oh really?" he raised an eyebrow in interest.

"Oh yeah." smirked Anna. "You know, since we've been training hard how about a little battle to see who's trained harder?"

"A battle, huh?" this surprised him but his look of shock soon became replaced with a look of determination at the thought of battling against his own sister. "Alright, you're on, but don't expect me to hold back."

"I'm not going to hold back either," she replied while holding a Pokeball in her right hand. "Let's make this a three-on-three battle okay?"

"Sure thing, Sis," said Ash, throwing his own Pokeball into the air and releasing his Caterpie. Anna responded by doing the same with hers and sending out her Weedle. "So, you have a Weedle huh?"

"And you have a Caterpie, this should be good," she remarked. "Now, Weedle, use Poison Sting!" Her Hairy Bug shot multiple poisonous darts at Ash's Worm Pokemon.

"I don't think so, dodge it and use Tackle!" Caterpie jumped to the left to avoid being hit and ran towards his opponent, hitting him dead on, Ash jumped into the air in triumph. "Good job."

"That's impressive, Ash, but that won't be enough to win this battle," smiled Anna before encouraging her Weedle to get back up. "Let's see how you handle a Bug Bite!"

The Weedle charged and jumped onto Caterpie's back before biting it, causing the Worm Pokemon to squeal in pain before eventually shaking his opponent off. Ash simply glared at his sister. "Caterpie, you okay?" he asked before seeing his Caterpie nodding his head to confirm. "Time for your own Bug Bite!"

Caterpie jumped and bit Weedle's back as payback for the Bug Bite the Hairy Bug had given him before. Despite the damage that both Bug-Type Pokemon had given each other during the match, they were each more than determined to defeat the other.

Just then, the two started glowing. Surprised, Ash and Anna watched their Pokemon slowly taking on new appearances.

"Caterpie….."

"Weedle….."

The white light faded, and in the place of their respective bugs were two new Pokemon they had never seen before; the two Ketchums took a look at their Pokedexes to find out more about them.

_Metapod, the Cocoon Pokemon. The evolved form of Caterpie. It hardens its shell to protect itself. However, a large impact may cause it to pop out of its shell._

_Kakuna, the Cocoon Pokemon . The evolved form of Weedle. Kakuna is able to move only slightly. When endangered, it may stick out its stinger and poison the enemy._

The siblings were amazed that Weedle and Caterpie had evolved into Kakuna and Metapod before remembering that they were still in a battle. "Kakuna, are you ready?" asked Anna with a look of determination. Her Pokemon nodded. "Good, now strike Metapod with Poison Sting!"

Ash watched as Kakuna sent a Poison Sting towards his Metapod. "Counter with Harden!" Ash's Bug-Type stiffened and glowed light green before the attack hit him, causing minor damage. "Now use Tackle!"

"I don't think so" said Anna with a sly smile at the sight of Metapod charging at her Kakuna. "Protect yourself with Harden now!" With that said, Kakuna glowed light yellow and when Metapod hit him, he felt almost nothing at all.

Ash started gritting his teeth. "This is just great, how am I supposed to beat a Pokemon that has Harden?" He began thinking of possible strategies to get past Kakuna's Harden move so that he would be able to pull a win. He knew that if he ordered for another tackle then Kakuna would just use Harden to increase its defense again, so there had to be a way to slow it down. "That's it! Metapod, Tackle it now!"

"Wrong choice, Kakuna use Harden!"

"Just what I expected you to do," grinned Ash. "Quick, Metapod, hurry and use String Shot!" With that, the green cocoon spat out a line of string that wrapped itself around Kakuna and surprised it and Anna so much that it forgot what it was going to do. Its opponent hit it dead on, inflicting critical damage. "Now it's time for a Bug Bite!"

Metapod proceeded to bite the Kakuna, despite its mouth not being visible at all, and then jumped off as the yellow cocoon fell backwards with a loud yell of pain before fainting. Anna huffed and withdrew her fallen Pokemon. "I have to admit, that was pretty clever to distract me and Kakuna with String Shot, but now round 2 starts!" She brought out another Pokeball and opened it to release Nidoran. "Attack Metapod with Scratch!"

Ash started laughing as the Poison Pin ran towards his Metapod. "Counter with Harden!"

The green cocoon glowed bright green and was able to endure the attack with little damage, but neither it nor Ash noticed the smirk on Anna's face. "I knew you were planning on doing that, time for Double Kick!"

Nidoran jumped in the air and struck Metapod with two kicks. "Alright, use Scratch again!" The Poison Pin then proceeded to rake her claws across her opponent, grinning at the critical damage it received. "Now end this with a Tackle!" Nidoran hit Metapod dead in the face and sent it slamming into a tree, knocking it out. "How do you like that, brother?"

"Pretty good, but just wait till I make my comeback" Ash recalled Metapod and took out Pidgey's Pokeball before sending his Tiny Bird Pokemon into battle. Both of them remembered their last battle against a Nidoran and they vowed never to make the same mistake, triggering the Poison Point ability, again. "Pidgey, use Gust!"

The Pidgey flew into the air and flapped his wings until a tornado formed around Nidoran, sending her backwards. "Two can play at that game. Nidoran, time for a Scratch attack!" ordered Anna before her Poison Pin jumped and scratched her opponent with a single swipe.

The male trainer watched his sister and her Pokemon. They were doing quite well, especially in their first battle against each other, but he was not going to give up, and neither would his Pidgey.

"Okay, Pidgey, let's blind Nidoran with Sand-Attack!"

Anna started smirking as the Tiny Bird prepared to use the Sand-Attack. "You know me better than that, Ashy. Nidoran, dodge it and use Tackle!" Her Pokemon quickly moved to the far right to avoid being hit by the sand and charged towards Pidgey, not noticing the grin on Ash's face.

"Wrong choice, Annie. Pidgey, prepare another Gust now!" he ordered. Pidgey quickly created a Gust attack, causing Nidoran to spin for a bit before it sent her flying into the air. "Now use Tackle!" Pidgey flew at her, scoring a direct hit on her chest and causing her to hit the ground hard, fainting almost instantly.

"Nidoran, return!" Anna brought her fallen Pokemon back inside her Pokeball before giving Ash a serious glare. "I may be down to my last Pokemon, but don't think that you will win this battle."

"Is that so? As I recall, I still have two Pokemon left, so of course I'm going to win this battle."

"We'll see about that." She threw her final Pokeball into the air and watched it release her Squirtle. "Okay, Squirtle, you ready to kick some ass?" she asked her starter Pokemon.

(Of course I am) replied the Tiny Turtle, nodding her head with a serious expression, and turned her attention towards Pidgey, who had already landed on the ground after his victory against Nidoran earlier.

"Squirtle, start the battle with Water Gun!"

The Squirtle breathed in and coming out of her mouth was water, which headed straight towards Pidgey, but the Tiny Bird flew into the air to dodge the attack. Anna knew that it was the perfect opportunity. "Use Bubble!"

The Water-Type Starter blew several bubbles and they were able to hit the Pidgey. Having remembered the way Ash had distracted her Nidoran and her Kakuna, this time Anna was able to catch him by surprise.

"Anna, it's going to take more than that to beat me!" yelled Ash with anger in his eyes. "Sand-Attack!"

"I don't think so! Squirtle, hide in your shell, then use your Water Gun!" commanded Anna.

Squirtle quickly hid inside her shell as soon as Pidgey began kicking up sand to try and lower his enemy's accuracy, then she got back out to give the Tiny Bird a soaking with her Water Gun attack. "Time for a Tackle to end this!"

The Tiny Turtle jumped and rammed herself into Pidgey, sending him into the ground before Ash's own eyes. He watched as his Flying-Type tried to get up only to drop back down, fainting. "Pidgey, return!"

"Looks like I won this round," she laughed as her brother withdrew Pidgey. "Looks like this will be it. Choose your last Pokemon wisely, because it is going to be the final one you'll choose for this battle."

"Is that so?" Ash turned his attention towards his own starter, Pikachu. "You think you'll be able to show Anna what we're made of?" He noticed the Electric Mouse nodding with a smirk. "Alright, I'm going to use Pikachu, and in case you don't already know, electric attacks are pretty dangerous to Water-Type Pokemon so you're at a major disadvantage."

"I don't care. It's not like my Squirtle's water attacks won't be very effective on Pikachu!"

"Trust me, I know," replied Ash. "Pikachu, strike with Thundershock!"

Pikachu's cheeks started to spark before letting out a jolt of electricity, and Ash smiled to himself as Squirtle took the hit directly. However, even though the attack was Super Effective, it didn't take down the Tiny Turtle at all.

(Looks like Squirtle must have trained herself hard if she was able to withstand a direct hit from my Thundershock, but I'm not going to let her win.)

"Okay, Ash, now it's my turn," smirked Anna before nodding to her starter Pokemon and turning to Ash. "Water Gun!"

Squirtle exhaled a jet of water towards Pikachu, hitting him and forcing him back. The Electric Mouse shook off the attack before glaring at the Tiny Turtle.

"I'm impressed, Anna. You really were training hard and it's starting to show," remarked the raven-haired trainer in an honest tone. "Let's see if you can stand up to another Thundershock attack!"

Pikachu quickly shook the water off of his body before letting out another Thundershock at Squirtle. "Nice try. Squirtle, hide in your shell and use Bubble!"

The Water-Type went into her shell to further protect herself from the second Thundershock, before retaliating with a blast of bubbles, hitting Pikachu in several parts of his body. "Time for another Water Gun!" With that, Squirtle shot another jet of water and began soaking Ash's starter, causing him to fly backwards onto a tree. "That's it, keep it up and we'll win this battle!"

Ash knew that he had to come up with something fast, otherwise Anna would win and he would never hear the end of it. That's when he remembered that water conducts electricity. "I got it! Pikachu, Thundershock!"

Pikachu let out another jolt of electricity, causing it to travel through the water and onto Squirtle. This forced the Tiny Turtle to stop her attack and the Electric-Type began to recover. "Pikachu, let's end this with a Quick Attack!" He ran at top speed and hits her dead-on, leaving a shocked Anna staring at her third defeated Pokemon, let alone her starter.

"No, Squirtle!" she shrieked before recalling the Squirtle and wishing that the Water-Type would forgive her. "Congratulations, you actually beat me," she said softly, preparing to give Ash his prize money.

"No, Anna, you keep it. Besides, you should be proud of yourself and of your Pokemon too."

"Yeah," whispered Anna with a small sigh. "You're just saying that so I'll start feeling better."

"No, I mean it. You almost managed to beat me; you should think about that," he reassured her with a sincere smile, placing his hands on her shoulders. "Don't worry about the battle, okay?"

She remained silent for a moment, taking in what he had just said to her, and wondered if he was right. Eventually she gave him a light smile. "Thank you."

"Anytime," he smiled back before noticing the sun's current position. It was only a matter of time before night fell, so it would be best to call it a night. "Looks like we better hit the hay; tomorrow's going to be a busy day."

"Okay." they quickly got their sleeping bags out, and then got inside them, welcoming the warmth. Before going to sleep, Anna gave her brother a gentle kiss on the cheek "Good night, Ash."

"Good night, Anna."

* * *

As soon as morning came, the two trainers prepared for some serious training, as they needed to be ready for when they arrived at Pewter City, and for what the Gym Leader would have in store for them. They even battled and defeated several Bug Catchers while they were at it. Ash, in the meanwhile, was still thinking about the trainer he'd met yesterday and he was still angry with the way he had battled against that Pidgeotto. One thing was for sure, though: he'd teach that creep a lesson if they ever crossed paths again.

Just then, Anna heard a sound from behind her and she turned around to see what it was, only to find that there was nothing there. "I must be hearing things" she said to herself before continuing Kakuna and her training, with the hope that there wouldn't be any more interruptions.

Another sound was heard, and this alerted her once again, causing her to walk towards Ash. "Did you hear that?"

"Hear what?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

Before Anna could say a word, the two heard footsteps from behind them. "Greetings, are you two Pokemon Trainers from Pallet Town?" asked a voice that startled the two trainers at first.

"Yes, we're Pokemon Trainers from Pallet Town," answered Ash, being the first to speak to whomever he was talking to. "Why do you ask?"

"I have found you at last!" He heard a sword being drawn and he turned to see a samurai prepared to slice him in half. The warrior stopped, however, once the katana was almost to Ash's nose.

"What's your problem?" snapped Anna, furious at the sight of the sword being held to her brother. "Are you trying to kill us or something?"

"My name is Samurai, and I have been searching the forest in order to challenge the two of you to a Pokemon battle!" he replied before putting his katana away and taking out a Pokeball. "Now, which of you will face me first?"

"I'll go first," said Ash, wondering if the Samurai was a skilled opponent if he was looking for trainers from Pallet Town. "Besides, I have something against swords being used on trainers."

"You think that you will be able to defeat me; I will just have to disappoint you." the Samurai threw his Pokeball and released a Pokemon that neither Ash nor Anna were familiar with.

"I wonder what that is," Anna said as she took out her Pokedex.

_Pinsir, the Stag Beetle Pokemon. Pinsir grips onto its prey with its pincers and squeezes hard! It can't move if it's cold, so it lives in warm places._

"Oh no," she gasped before turning her attention towards Ash, a worried expression on her face. "You'd better be careful. You don't want to underestimate this Pokemon."

"Don't worry. I have it covered, and I'm going to try something unexpected." He smiled before taking out one of his own Pokeballs and releasing his Metapod, Anna slapped her forehead when he did that.

"Ash, what are you thinking? Metapod won't stand a chance against a Pokemon like Pinsir!"

Samurai grinned at the sight of Metapod, who he suspected was weaker than his powerful Pinsir. "This mistake is going to cost you the battle! Now watch as Pinsir breaks your precious Metapod in half!"

The stag beetle charged at the green cocoon with a desire to use its Vicegrip, but Ash had his own grin. "Metapod, use Harden!" His Pokemon started glowing green just before the Pinsir got it with Vicegrip, and instead of breaking Metapod in two, some of the spikes on its pincers shattered. "Nice try."

Samurai frowned as Pinsir let go of Metapod. Then he heard Ash telling it to use Tackle and watched as it rammed itself against his Pokemon, sending it to the ground. "Pinsir, return." He recalled the stag beetle before taking out another Pokeball. "Quite clever, but your luck won't last for long!" he opened it up to reveal his own Metapod. "Now Harden like his Metapod!"

Ash wondered what Samurai was thinking by having his Metapod use Harden rather than having it attack his own but he quickly shook off that thought and raised his Pokeball. "I know what to do, Metapod re…." He never got to finish what he was going to say as he and the others heard a buzzing noise.

(They're coming,) said Kakuna. It would recognize the sound anywhere. (I've heard it before, and it will only be a matter of time before they arrive.)

"What are you talking about?" questioned Anna with a confused look on her face, before noticing that Samurai was recalling his Metapod. "What are you doing?"

It was then that they saw something in the sky. They wondered what it was, but when it got closer they realized that it was a Pokemon. The only problem was that it was not alone. Anna quickly got her Pokedex out.

_Beedrill, the Poison Bee Pokemon. The evolved form of Kakuna. It has three poisonous stingers on its forelegs and its tail. They are used to jab its enemy repeatedly._

"What are Beedrill doing here? We didn't do anything to piss them off did we?"

Kakuna went towards its trainer. (I think I know why they're here, one of them must have seen me and thought that I had been taken away, so it must have called for the other Beedrill for a rescue mission.)

"A rescue mission?" exclaimed Anna before seeing one of the Beedrill swooping down and snatching her Kakuna. "Kakuna!"

Another one was able to grab hold of Ash's Metapod and started flying away. "Oh no, Metapod!" He and Anna raised their Pokeballs to try and recall them, but the Beedrills kept moving away from the position of the beams. "Get back here!"

Pikachu noticed three more coming at the two humans and used his Thundershock on the Bees, knocking them out. "Thanks, Pikachu," Ash praised his starter. Anna grabbed his hand and led him and Pikachu away, heading in the same direction as Samurai in hopes of getting away from the swarm.

After a few minutes of running, they quickly hid behind a bush and waited for the Beedrills to give up and leave. Fortunately, that's exactly what the Poison Bees did, but Ash and Anna were starting to become worried about their Metapod and Kakuna.

(Guys, look!) Pikachu called out to the three humans, who turned to see that their hiding spot was close to a tree full of Kakuna. Anna started eying the area, hoping to find her own Kakuna, which wouldn't be a problem as the others were ready to evolve.

It was at this moment that Ash noticed his Metapod in the hive. He was quite happy to see that it was in one piece, except he then saw the Kakunas opening up and slowly becoming Beedrills.

"Here we go again." They started running away from the new Beedrills; they knew that none of their Pokemon would stand a chance against an entire swarm of them. Just then, they noticed a cabin up ahead, and Samurai suggested that they quickly get inside it for safety. The Beedrills attacked the cabin with their stingers, and then surrounded it, waiting for their prey to come out. A few seconds passed and the Beedrills eventually decided to return to their home.

"Dammit!" Ash kicked the wall in anger; he was becoming more worried about his Metapod than ever. "I really wish we hadn't left Metapod and Kakuna behind."

"Ash," whispered Anna, standing up and showing that she was just as worried as he was, if not more, "I understand how you feel, but right now there's nothing we can do."

"Still, we have to get them back!" he shouted, clenching his right fist. He refused to lose one of his Pokemon.

"And we will, but right now we need to rest and then come up with a plan." They heard a sound and turned to see that the Samurai was taking off his armor, and then Anna remembered something. "Didn't you say earlier that you have been searching for trainers from Pallet Town just so you can battle them? Why were you?" She abruptly realized something. "You faced other trainers from Pallet Town, didn't you?"

"Ah…. Yes, they were spectacular battles and each of the trainers I went up against was very powerful. Even though I was defeated by each of them, I was inspired to train harder so that I could one day defeat the next trainer from Pallet Town."

"Guess that makes sense," muttered Ash, placing a hand on his forehead. "We'll finish our battle later. Right now we have other important matters to attend to." He continued thinking about his Metapod. _Tomorrow, I'm going to get Metapod and Kakuna back no matter what. That's a promise._

* * *

The next day, Ash and Pikachu returned to the Beedrills' hive, and as the raven-haired trainer promised himself, he began to quietly sneak through the grass towards the tree so. If the bees did spot him, Pikachu would be able to distract them with Thundershock long enough for them to make an escape "So far, so good" he said to himself as he continued to sneak closer, but then he heard a small sound across from where he was. Ash crawled towards the shaking grass until eventually he noticed some brown hair. "Anna?"

"Huh?" Anna's face popped out from within the grass, startling the two before they covered each others mouths, silently praying that the Beedrills didn't hear their brief screams. "What do you think you're doing here?"

"What's it look like? I'm going to get Metapod and Kakuna," said Ash in a serious tone, uncovering his sister's mouth. "What are you doing here?"

"The same thing you're doing, so you better get out of here before you mess everything up."

"Me?" he asked in disbelief. "You're the one who captured Kakuna when it was a Weedle and you were also the one not to have noticed the Beedrill thinking that your Pokemon was from their Hive!"

"You're saying that it's my fault?" exclaimed Anna. A moment later she realized that she had yelled, and clapped her hands over her mouth. Unfortunately, the Beedrills started waking up. "Oh snap!"

"Nice going, Anna," he groaned, releasing his Pidgey and Rattata to help Pikachu hold off the Beedrills while his sister sent out her Nidoran and Squirtle to back them up despite the odds being against them. "Come on, we better get our Metapod and Kakuna and then get out of here!"

Anna nodded without question before following Ash to where the Kakunas and Metapod were located. Several of the Beedrills began to fly towards them. Luckily, Pikachu and Squirtle forced the Bees away with Thundershock and Water Gun, then Pidgey used a Gust attack to take down two. "Ash, you need to help me find which of these Kakunas is mine once you get Metapod, okay?"

"Gotcha," Ash nodded and went towards Metapod. "Okay, hurry up and get inside the Pokeball," he told it but was shocked to see it shaking. "What's wrong?"

A Beedrill swooped down and tried to strike, as Ash picked up Metapod and ran to where Anna was searching for her Kakuna, but it was tackled away before it could even get close by Rattata. (Come on, we need to get out of here now!)

"Hold on, I need to help Anna find her Kakuna!" he called out to his Normal-Type as he met with his sister. "Any luck?"

"No, so far none of them are my Kakuna," she frowned, and tears started forming in her eyes. "You were right; it was my fault and I'm worried that Kakuna might hate me for what happened earlier."

"Anna…" said Ash in a gentle tone, his own tears showing, before placing his Metapod onto the ground. "It's my fault too. Maybe if I was paying more attention to my Pokemon, then we wouldn't be in this mess. If we make it out alive, let's promise that we won't run away and leave our friends ever again." Anna remained silent and slowly nodded her head.

Metapod and one of the Kakunas on the middle of the tree trunk were touched by those words and their own eyes began to water at how much their respective trainers truly cared for them. It was then Ash and Anna took note of this, the latter's face forming a smile. "Kakuna, is that really you?" It nodded its head and she ran towards it before giving it a fierce hug. "I never thought that I would see you again!"

Ash smiled at the moment, but the expression faded when he saw two of the Beedrills heading towards them. Pikachu, Rattata, Pidgey, Nidoran and Squirtle ran to help them, but they were too far away. Just then, Kakuna got out of Anna's grip and it took the hit meant for her, with Metapod doing the same to save Ash.

"Metapod!"

"Kakuna!"

They caught their respective cocoons, horrified at the gashes their Pokemon had received, just as Samurai arrived on the scene. Suddenly, the gashes let out a flash of white light and the two Ketchums watched as a purple butterfly and a bee emerged from within the damaged Metapod and Kakuna before flying into the sky.

"I can't believe it…." said a surprised Ash, taking out his Pokedex to learn about what the butterfly Pokemon was.

_Butterfree, the Butterfly Pokemon. The evolved form of Metapod. Its wings, covered with poisonous powders, repel water. This allows it to fly in the rain._

"Metapod and Kakuna evolved, that's amazing!" squealed an excited Anna, happy that their Pokemon were alright, but then she and Ash remembered that they still needed to deal with the Wild Beedrills. "Care to do the honors, Ash?"

"With pleasure, Anna," smirked Ash before looking up towards his newly evolved Butterfree. "Butterfree, use your Sleep Powder now!"

The Butterfly Pokemon flapped his wings and light blue particles formed around the Wild Beedrills, Weedles and Kakuna, putting them all to sleep while Pikachu, Pidgey, Rattata, Nidoran, Squirtle, Anna's Beedrill and Samurai watched in amazement.

"You did it, Butterfree!" Ash praised his Butterfree. Anna smiled at this, closing her eyes with a note to write a story about their adventure together one day.

"You were able to handle your Butterfree so well, just after it evolved," remarked Samurai, mentally admitting that Ash was no novice as he had once suspected. "Most impressive."

The rest of Ash's Pokemon, as well as Anna's Nidoran and Squirtle, remained silent and were happy for him and for Butterfree.

* * *

"This trail will take you to Pewter City," said Samurai, having led Ash and Anna to the path out of the Viridian Forest.

"That's great. By the way, we still need to finish our battle."

"No, my friend, between the two of us, I am the novice, but I will continue to train in order to perfect my technique, and one day we will meet again," he replied to Ash before extending his hand to his new friends.

Ash and Anna looked at each other before nodding and taking each of Samurai's hands, shaking them firmly. "I'm sure that it will be a spectacular match."

"That is guaranteed."

With that in mind, Ash and Anna left the Virdian Forest and together, they made their way towards Pewter City. They knew that they were no more than ready to take on the Gym Leader, especially with their newly evolved friends helping them out, no matter how dangerous it would be.

A/Ns: I'm very sorry this chapter took so long. I was really busy with my school work, as well as other stuff, but hopefully this will make up for it. P.S. the events of Bye Bye Butterfree will not happen in this fic, as I really hated the moment where Ash releases his Butterfree in the end.


	5. Between a Brock and a Hard Place

Disclaimer: See chapter 1. The man known as the Crimson Fox belongs to StormWolf77415.

Pokemon: Rise of Heroes

Between a Brock and a Hard Place

By EmperorDraco7

After a long trip through the Viridian Forest, Ash and Anna have finally arrived at Pewter City. They were glad to be in a town and they deserved some rest after their training and the scuffles with the Beedrill. "Here we are at last" said Ash in relief while wiping some sweat off of his forehead. "Now the hard part begins…. We need to find out what kind of Pokemon the Gym Leader here uses and we also need to train hard if we want to defeat him."

"Trust me, I know" replied Anna with a single nod. "First we need to find a Pokemon Center and heal our Pokemon since we've trained a bit in the Viridian Forest."

The male trainer sighed, knowing that she had a good point. "You're right, we'll have the Pokemon healed first then we'll see what kind of Pokemon the Gym Leader uses."

This made her smile and they looked around to find the nearest Pokemon Center in the area. Fortunately after about 5 minutes, they finally found it and they entered to see plenty of other trainers in line to heal their respective Pokemon. "Guess they went up against the Gym Leader…" commented Anna.

"Looks like its going to take a while before it's our turn."

(Oh brother…) sighed Pikachu, not liking this. Luckily the line wasn't really long so it only took 2-3 minutes before Ash and Anna got the chance to have their Pokemon fully healed. Then the latter got an idea.

"You know, it might take a while before we get our Pokemon back" she told him with a sly smile. "Since we're here, why don't we check out the Gym now so we'll have a chance to learn about what type of Pokemon the leader has."

Ash thought about it for a moment, there wasn't anything against visiting the Gym nor did he recall anything that forbids witnessing another trainer's battle there. "That wouldn't hurt, sure" he said, smiling back at her. "Remember though, we need to be back for our Pokemon as soon as we find out okay?"

"Of course" she grabbed hold of his right hand. "Let's go!" With that, she led her brother out the door and turned her attention towards Chansey and Joy. "We'll be right back, please look after our Pokemon!"

* * *

Once outside, Ash asked a nearby trainer where the Pewter Gym was located and he told them that it was at the right. "Thanks" he told the trainer before heading towards the Gym with his sister not to far behind. Little did they know, a mysterious man was watching them from behind the Center with a serious expression on his face.

Upon arriving at the location, they were amazed by how the Gym was designed and they slowly nodded to each other before entering, knowing that they need to examine the inside of it not just the outside. While looking around, Ash noticed two statues, each of them showing the names of the trainers who had defeated the Gym Leader as well as the Leader's name.

"Pewter City Pokemon Gym…." He began reading what was on one of them. "Leader…. Brock…. So that's his name huh?" he said to himself before he continued until something caught his attention. "Anna, look at this!"

She approached the statue and examined where Ash was pointing to, her eyes widened in surprise at the sight of the current winning trainers. "The others must have already been here" she frowned upon noticing one of the names. "That includes Gary."

"Should have guessed" he scowled when he hard Gary's name, he wanted to show him that there is only room for one Pokemon Master. However just as he was about to speak again, Anna heard something up ahead. "What's up?" he asked, turning his attention towards his sister with a look of confusion on his face.

"I could have sworn I heard a battle…." answered the girl before hearing something else from the same direction. "We better check it out!" They went forward to see what was happening until they saw that it was indeed a battle taking place. She took notice towards the giant grey snake-like Pokemon and brought out her Pokedex.

_Onix, the Rock Snake Pokemon. It burrows at high speed in search of food. The tunnels it leaves are used as homes for Diglett._

"Wow…" said Anna before turning his attention back towards the Onix in the battle. "It looks like a pretty power Pokemon and I bet that the trainer who is using that Onix is the Gym Leader."

The male trainer nodded his head. "However it looks like the battle is about to end soon since Onix looks a bit tired" He added before noticing what the Rock Snake was battling against, it was a small green turtle with a twig on its head. "I wonder what that Pokemon is…" he took a look at his on Pokedex to find out.

_Unidentified Pokemon. No information available._

"Huh?" wondered Ash in surprise at hearing this, however it was then he suddenly noticed one of the trainers and his eyes hardened when he realized who it was. "Not him again…"

This made the female Ketchum raise an eyebrow. "What are you talking about?"

"You see that trainer?" he pointed to the purple-haired male with the emotionless expression. "I met him back while I was training my Pokemon at the Virdian Forest. His names Paul and trust me, he's real jerk and he doesn't treat his Pokemon well."

She remained silent and watched the events that took place. "Onix, Rock Throw!" ordered Brock, the Pewter Gym Leader before seeing his Pokemon throw a bunch of rocks at the smaller one, causing Paul to start grinning.

"Withdraw Turtwig!" the green turtle went into its shell as the rocks crashed onto the ground. "Now use Razor Leaf!" It popped out and hurled several sharp-edged leaves at Onix, causing it Super Effective damage due to it being a Rock-Type and the attack being a Grass-Type one. "Time for Absorb!"

Turtwig's eyes glowed bright green and began absorbing energy from its opponent to make up for the slight damage it had received earlier in the battle. The Rock Snake screamed in pain until eventually crashing onto the ground.

"Onix is unable to battle!" announced the Referee. "Turtwig wins; the victory goes to Paul of the Sinnoh region!"

Both Ash and Anna were surprised at this, they've never heard of the Sinnoh region before. Paul recalled Turtwig and approached Brock, he coldly said. "I will be taking my badge now."

The older trainer remained silent for a moment, knowing he was right as he was the victor. He relinquished the Boulder Badge and then he said. "You need to treat your Pokemon with better care; they aren't weapons that you use against other people."

Paul didn't say a single word and took his leave, pasting the two Pallet Town trainers but stopped once he took a glance at Ash. "Wait a minute…." He spoke, turning around with a glare. "I know you; you're that punk I met back at the Viridian Forest."

"You better take that back!" yelled Ash, his hands being clenched into fists.

"Oh really? What if I don't?"

Before Ash could do anything, Anna placed a hand on his right shoulder while shaking her head. "Don't, our Pokemon are still at the Pokemon Center" she told her brother before changing her glance at Paul. "As for you, Ash just told me about how you treated your Pokemon. You should be ashamed of yourself!"

"Just stay out of my way if you two know what's good for you" he replied before taking his leave.

"Damn him" cursed Ash as he wanted to give that creep a piece of his mind.

Anna sighed "Just let him go, we have to prepare ourselves for our own battle with the Gym Leader."

Without saying a single word, he realized that his sister was right and decided that he'll deal with Paul some other time after they beat Brock. _I'll show him_ he thought to himself as they left the Gym.

* * *

After returning to the Pokemon Center, they were happy to learn that their respective Pokemon have been fully healed. "Thanks Nurse Joy" smiled Ash with a small bow while petting Pikachu's head.

"You're very welcome" replied Joy, smiling back at the two trainers before they exited for some training. Anna released her Squirtle from her Pokeball and they turned to notice that Ash was looking at the sky.

"Hey Ash…" she slowly approached him with a look of concern. "Are you feeling alright?"

He closed his eyes. "Not really…" Something was indeed bothering him and he felt like he needed to talk to someone about it. "I'm going to have a bit of a problem for my battle with Brock… Right now I don't have any Pokemon that have the advantage against his Rock-Types."

"Oh yeah…" she almost forgot that Ash only had Pikachu, Pidgey, Rattata and Butterfree, he doesn't have a Grass-Type, a Water-Type or even a Fighting-Type in his lineup. "I wonder…." She took a look at her Pokedex to see if there was a way to cheer him up, after a few seconds, a smile formed on her face. "Guess what Ash, you don't have to worry about Butterfree, he knows an attack that would help against a Pokemon like Onix."

"Huh?" Ash opened his eyes and wondered what she was talking, taking a peek at the Pokedex before realizing. "Oh yeah, I completely forgot about that and I also remembered that Butterfree can use Stun Spore and Sleep Powder so maybe I'll stand a chance against him after all."

"Somehow I highly doubt it" said a male voice from behind both Ketchums and their respective Starter Pokemon, causing them to turn around to see that was a man they have never seen before.

"Who are you?" Ash was the first to ask him. "Why do you think I won't stand a chance against Brock?"

"My name is Flint. As for why I don't think you would stand a chance against the Gym Leader… Let's just say that I was told about your efforts from a friend of mine" replied the man with a serious look, examining Pikachu for a moment before eventually nodding his head. "Show me the rest of your Pokemon."

Remaining silent, Ash released his Pidgey, Rattata and Butterfree and watched as the man began examining them as well, wondering about what's going on as he did so. After a minute or 2, the man said. "You have raised your Pokemon really well…. However, like I said before I doubt that you would be ready for Brock."

This shocked the two trainers and they were about to protest when they saw that the man was taking a disc out of his pocket, it wasn't just any disc, it was a TM. "I can't do much but I believe this TM would help you when you are ready to battle him." He placed it into Ash's right hand. "It's called Iron Tail, a Steel-Type attack that can also lower the opponent's Defense."

"Why are you giving me this TM?" asked Ash.

"I believe that you would use it well and are worthy enough to teach it to one of your Pokemon" answered the man before taking his leave. "Good luck…."

Ash looked at Anna for a moment, not knowing on whether or not to teach it to one of his Pokemon. Upon seeing a nod, he smiled. "Hey Pikachu, you ready to learn this attack?" he asked his starter, who nodded his head to confirm. "Alright, here it goes." He sets the TM onto Pikachu and activated it, causing the Electric Mouse to experience a strange but painless feeling throughout his entire body. A minute later, Pikachu opened his eyes and smiled at his trainer. "Did it work?"

(Let's find out) he said before jumping into the air and performed an attack with his tail, which was glowing bright white. (Yep, it worked.)

"Awesome!" said Ash, now eager to for the upcoming battle against Brock. "Now I think it's time for us to train, tomorrow we're going to be ready for Brock!" Although he didn't admit he wondered about who Flint's friend was and how they know about Ash and Anna's mission.

Flint watched as Ash and Anna made their way back to Route 2 for their preparation for the battle to come before he turned his attention towards a man wearing a black cloak and wearing a Fox mask to conceal his face. With him was a Ninetales. "He received the TM as you instructed… though I wonder, what do you see in those two?"

"I believe that they can become not only the greatest trainers if they put their mind into it but they can also become a great help against those who threaten both human and Pokemon alike" explained the masked man while stroking the fur of his Ninetales. "I'll introduce myself to them when the time is right but for now Ninetales and I need to head for Route 3 as I suspect that Team Rocket would be at Mt. Moon looking something of importance to their leader."

Flint watched the masked one leave. _Good luck Crimson Fox._

* * *

The next day, Ash and Pikachu were doing some last minute training, practicing in using the Iron Tail attack so that it would help them in defeating Onix. "You're doing a great job Pikachu!" he commented before noticing Anna approaching them. "What took you so long?"

"Oh nothing… I thought I'd let you know that I already had my battle with Brock while you were busy training" she replied with a smirk before revealing the Boulder Badge to him. "It was close though, if I didn't have Squirtle in my lineup for that battle I would have lost."

"Congrats Anna" said Ash with a smile, he was glad that she won her battle with the Gym Leader. "Looks like it's our turn…. Ready Pikachu?"

(Of course I'm ready.)

"Then let's go" he lead the Electric Mouse towards the Gym for the battle against the Leader and for the first Pokemon Badge needed to compete in the Pokemon League tournament. Anna followed, wanting to cheer her brother on. They arrived at the Gym and the male Ketchum calmly walked forward until he was greeted by none other than Brock himself. "My name's Ash Ketchum, brother of Anna Ketchum and I've come to challenge you to a battle!"

Brock grinned upon hearing the name Ketchum. "So another Ketchum wishes to battle me huh…. Yes I can see the resemblance quite well" he glanced at the two trainers and continued. "Your sister managed to defeat me but I can assure that you won't be as lucky."

"We'll see about that" replied Ash with a look of determination.

"The battle between Pewter Gym Leader Brock and Challenger Ash Ketchum is about to commence…" announced the referee, raising both flags into the air. "Each trainer is allowed to use two Pokemon with no time-limit. Only the challenger can switch Pokemon, the Gym Leader cannot." He lowered the flags. "Begin!"

"Alright…" Brock brought up a Pokeball and threw it into the air. "Go Geodude!" In a flash of white light, a rock-like Pokemon appeared on the battlefield, making Ash look at his Pokedex.

_Geodude, the Rock Pokemon. Geodude is commonly found near mountain trails, etc. If you step on one by accident, it gets angry._

"It begins…" whispered Anna as she watched Geodude punching the air with a determinded look on his face. "I wonder how Ash will counter that Pokemon."

"Okay…. Here I go" the young trainer said to himself, putting his Pokedex away and bringing out his own Pokeball. "Butterfree, I choose you!" He released his Bug/Flying-Type into battle.

Brock wasn't pleased with Ash's decision. "Do you really think a Bug Pokemon would be able to defeat a Rock-Type like Geodude?"

"I don't think you, I know so!" yelled Ash before turning his attention towards Butterfree and nodded. "Okay Butterfree, let's start this battle with Gust!" The Butterfly Pokemon flapped his wings, causing a tornado to consume Geodude. However it did little damage to the Rock Pokemon and Brock scowled.

"Please tell me that wasn't the best you got because if it is then it's going to cost you the battle" he said sternly. "Geodude, Rock Throw!" Geodude created some rocks and hurled them as Butterfree.

"Dodge it!" ordered Ash before seeing his Bug/Flying-Type barely managing to avoid being hit by the rocks. "Now use Stun Spore!" Butterfree flapped his wings again, this time forming yellow dust, causing Geodude some pain and stopping him to stop in his tracks completely. "It's time, let's use Confusion!"

Butterfree's eyes began glowing and a purple aura surrounded the now paralyzed Geodude, damaging him and surprising Brock. "Before this match, I learned that Butterfree can learn an attack that can hurt Rock-Types like Geodude" grinned Ash.

"Don't think this is over… Geodude use Rollout!"

The Rock Pokemon tried to move but was unable to due to the effects of Stun Spore and Ash closed his eyes, he knew he had to end this battle soon. "Butterfree, use Confusion again!" The Butterfly Pokemon sent another Confusion attack at Geodude, the power of Psychic-Type move and the training he had the day before eventually caused the Leader's Pokemon to scream in pain as he was thrown into a nearby rock, knocking him out.

"Geodude is unable to battle!" announced the referee. "Butterfree wins!"

"Alright Butterfree, you did it!" smiled Ash as Butterfree was glad that he managed to defeat one of Brock's Pokemon.

"Alright Ashy!" cheered Anna.

Brock recalled his fallen Geodude and smirked at Ash. "Very impressive, tricking me into thinking that you are trying to lose this battle on purpose and then revealing your real strategy once the time was right." He took out another Pokeball. "Too bad it won't work twice…. Onix, let's go!" He sent out Onix.

"Oh great…." Ash bit his lower lip, knowing that Onix was Brock's strongest Pokemon but he wasn't unbeatable. "Butterfree use Sleep Powder!"

"Onix, go underground!" Brock countered, watching the Rock Snake dig below the Gym's Battlefield and watching Ash scowl as that happened, knowing that would give the Gym Leader a chance to make a counter-attack. Eventually Onix emerged from the ground.

"Butterfree, use Confusion!"

"Not this time, Onix counter with Tackle!" shouted Brock, the Onix charged and hits the Butterfree dead in the chest. "Now end it with Rock Throw!" It collected some rocks and threw them at the Butterfly Pokemon before he could have a chance to recover. Ash could only watch as his Bug/Flying-Type fainted from the Super Effective damaged he had received.

"Butterfree is unable to battle!" announced the referee. "Onix wins!"

Ash frowned and returned Butterfree to his Pokeball. "You did your best Butterfree…" he said softly before he turned to Pikachu. "What do you say we end this Pikachu?"

(I'm on it!) replied the Mouse before running to the field and glaring at the Onix.

Anna knew that this would be it. "Okay Ash, all you have to do is avoid being hit by Onix's attacks and you'll win this battle…. I hope."

Pikachu swallowed hard, he never fought any Pokemon like Onix before in his entire life and he's not sure if he can defeat it. "An Electric-Type, what are you thinking? None of his attacks would harm my Pokemon" explained Brock with a serious look on his face and shook his head. "Onix… attack with Rock Throw!" he commanded; the Rock Snake hurled a small amount of rocks towards the Electric-Type.

"Pikachu dodge it now!" Pikachu quickly avoided the falling rocks. "Now…. Use Iron Tail!" The mouse jumped and hits Onix with his glowing Tail, shocking Brock even more.

"What the…."

Ash closed his eyes and said. "You didn't think that I would send Pikachu into battle without first teaching him an attack to combat your Rock-Types did I?"

"Too bad you won't get the chance to use it on me again, Onix use Bind now!" commanded Brock as Onix wrapped itself around Pikachu, trapping him in the Rock Snake's body.

"Oh no!" Ash watched in dismay as the Ground/Rock-Type began to crush the life out of Pikachu, who struggled to break free but with no avail. "Pikachu!" The Electric-Type performed a Thundershock which didn't do any damage on his opponent but it took out some lights on the ceiling. Without any options, Ash was considering about giving up and forfeiting the match however as he brought out Pikachu's Pokeball, there was a voice in his head that is telling him not to give up. Unfortunately he didn't have a choice as Pikachu was close to being defeated until all of a sudden.

"Onix stop!" he suddenly saw that Onix was releasing Pikachu from his grasp and he began wondering what Brock was doing.

"Brock, what are you doing?"

The Gym Leader frowned and glanced at Ash. "There's no point of continuing…" he told the younger trainer. "I'd rather not hurt anymore of your Pokemon."

"What's Brock thinking?" wondered Anna, looking quite confused about why he was calling off Onix's attack earlier. None of the trainers knew that a small fire broke on the ceiling from Pikachu's Thundershock earlier and soon the sprinklers went off. "Oh man…" she muttered before noticing that it was hurting Onix and she remembered something. "Oh yeah…. Onix hates being hit by water."

Ash was surprised by this and also remembered what other weaknesses Onix had, with that in mind, he turned to Pikachu. "Pikachu, use Iron Tail now!" The mouse ran towards the Rock Snake as fast as he could and attacked with his white glowing tail. The damage from the Iron Tail and the water from the sprinklers was enough to finally bring Onix down once and for all.

"Onix!"

"Onix is unable to battle… Pikachu wins! The victory goes to the challenger Ash Ketchum!" announced the referee.

"Ash, you did it!" Anna was completely excited that her brother managed to defeat Brock and his Onix. She watched as he called Pikachu back to him and relieved that it was finally over.

Meanwhile Brock recalled Onix and approached Ash with a light smile. "Congratulations Ash… I really took you for granted and with that I wish to give you the Boulder Badge as proof that you defeated me in battle" he placed the badge into Ash's hand.

"Thank you…" smiled Ash before performing a special pose. "Alright I got the Boulder Badge!"

"You know…." Brock began speaking once again, this time in deep thought. "To be honest I actually get more pleasure in raising Pokemon than making them battle" he paused for a moment, lowering his head as he thought about what he's going to say to Ash next. "I want to become a Pokemon Breeder. Unfortunately I can't leave because I'm the leader of the Pewter Gym and I have to look after my younger brothers and sisters."

"What?" asked Ash in surprise and disbelief. "You have brothers and sisters?" His answer was a single nod. "I…." He didn't finish what he was going to say as he noticed the mysterious man behind him.

"Brock…" the man smiled at the Gym Leader. "I believe that the time has come for you to travel and to follow your dreams."

"Flint!" exclaimed Ash, surprised at seeing him again before seeing him remove his beard and hat to reveal that he is an older version of Brock.

"My father…" said Brock while scowling at the older man. "I never thought that I would see you again after so long. What made you decide to come back after abandoning me and my brothers and sisters?"

"Hey!" yelled Anna in complete shock and confusion. "What's going on here?"

"It's a long story" answered Flint before turning his attention towards Brock. "Listen to me, I couldn't become the great Pokemon Trainer I wanted to be because I was such a failure and I was too embarrassed and ashamed to go back to my family."

Ash and Anna lowered their heads in sadness; they remembered when their own father left Pallet 5 years ago and never returned. They really missed him and hoped that they would one day meet him during their journey. Then Ash realized something. "Wait a minute, if you were ashamed to return to your family then why did you help me instead of Brock?"

"You remind me of another trainer I knew sometime ago... he was like what you are right now, eager to prove that he was the best trainer in the world" replied Flint with a serious expression on his face.

"A trainer who was like what I am right now?" wondered Ash with a look of confusion until he eventually figured out who the older man was talking about. "You don't mean…"

Flint nodded and then turned his attention towards Brock. "The time has come for me to start taking care of my family again and for you to fulfill your dreams and mine."

"Father…" Brock didn't know what to say to him but he was starting to feel better about what had happened in the past and after a few seconds, he spoke. "I have few things that I have to tell you." He took out a small sewing needle and thread before explaining to Flint about what to do while he's gone. Pikachu, Ash and Anna laughed a bit at this moment, however deep down, the two trainers realized that their long-lost father had been to Pewter City sometime ago and if he was then where was he now? Did he convince Flint to help Ash to prepare for the battle?

A/N: Here it is. I hope that you will like it and how it went. The next chapter will have the trek to Mt. Moon and the debut of Team Rocket (including three familiar members). I also apologize for any spelling and grammar errors in this chapter.


	6. Enter Team Rocket

Disclaimer: See chapter 1, also I am sorry for not updating for a long time it's just that real life has been getting the better of me but I promise that the chapter I have for you will make up for that.

Pokemon Rise of Heroes

Enter Team Rocket

By EmperorDraco7

Ash and Anna had won their first badge and they also made a new friend in the form of Brock the Pewter City Gym Leader, who had decided to join them on their journey. They were just on their way towards Route 3 as the two Ketchums were wondering about where they're going to go next. "Let me see…." began the brown-haired girl, taking a glance at the town map as she checked to make sure of where they are and where the next city would be. "According to the map, the next city is Cerulean City and it's not that far either."

"That's good; I could use some training for my next Gym battle along the way…" smiled Ash while stretching one of his arms before Pikachu playfully hit him on the back of the head with his tail.

"Well we won't have to go very far for your next Gym battle as there is a Pokemon Gym at Cerulean City."

This caught both younger trainers off guard. "Are you sure about that?" they both asked him at the same time before he nodded his head to confirm without saying a single word.

"Alright Brock…" said Ash, glad to hear that the next Gym is at where they were heading for. "So do you know which Pokemon the leader of Cerulean City uses?"

"Sorry Ash, I can't tell you that…" smirked Brock while Ash looked a bit disappointed with that answer. "Remember I'm a Gym Leader too and I don't think it will be fair if I tell the two of you which kinds of Pokemon the other leaders use so that will have to be something you need to find out on your own."

"I guess you're right…." Anna didn't say anything else as she soon took notice to something up ahead, causing her to stop in her tracks. "Huh?"

"What's up Anna?" asked Ash, wondering why his sister stopped moving.

"Look up there!" she told him as he and Brock saw appeared to be a man in a white coat approaching them. However as he got closer, her eyes widened as she eventually recognized who he was. "Isn't he one of Professor Oak's Aides?"

"Huh? Wait a minute, you're right!" Ash began smiling as he too recognized the man approaching them and said. "Hey!"

"Hey there!" said the Aide, meeting up with the 3 trainers. "I'm glad that I caught up with the two of you, I have been sent to deliver something…. " he checked his bag to see what was inside of it, it took him a few seconds but he found what he was looking for and revealed two pairs of running shoes. "Here you go…"

"Wow…. thanks" both Ash and Anna accepted their gifts from the Aide while smiling at him.

The Aide smiled back and noticed Brock. "I see that the two of you made a friend on your journey haven't you?"

"Yep…" answered Ash with a nod after putting on his running shoes. "His name is Brock; he was the Pewter City Gym leader but chose to come with us on our journey."

"Ah…. I see" the Aide spoke, quite surprised that the leader of the Pewter Gym is now accompanying Ash and Anna. "Well I must be going now…" he was about to head back to Pallet Town when he stopped and turned his attention back to Ash and the others. "I should warn you those… There are rumors about a group of Pokemon thieves being present in the area you are heading for."

"Pokemon thieves?" wondered Anna while raising an eyebrow as curiosity got the better of her.

"Yes… you see that poster over there?" he asked, pointing to the wanted poster of two unknown people not too far from where he was previously standing. "These people are from an organization called Team Rocket…. They steal Pokemon from other trainers, especially rare and unusual Pokemon so whatever you do…. If you ever see them, please steer clear."

"We promise…" Anna slowly nodded her head while gently nudging her brother. "Right Ash?"

"Yeah, but I don't think it will be easy though…." He told the Aide with a serious expression on his face.

"Good, now I must be going for real…." With that said, the Aide left and the 3 trainers glanced at the wanted poster that he showed them and they wondered if this Team Rocket organization truly was what he warned them. However Pikachu noticed something and turned his attention towards Ash and Anna.

(Guys, you might want to take a look at this….)

"Huh?" wondered Ash, picking up what Pikachu found and surprise filled his eyes when he took a look at it. "It's a letter…." He told the others, catching their attention. "It says… Dear Ash, here are two pairs of running shoes to you and your sister Anna, my beloved challengers…. Remember that I'll always cheer for you! Don't ever give up! Love mom…."

"I don't believe it…." Anna was touched that their mom wished to support them even when they're not home; she saw that Ash was also touched by this. "We better get going or well never get to Cerulean City…."

"Oh yeah…. Also we will need to remember to call mom and thank her once we get there…." smiled Ash as he and the others began their trek through Route 3, hoping that they would reach Cerulean City and catch up with the other Pallet Trainers along the way. Little did they know, a small hook came down upon the wanted poster and pulled it off of the sign. A small line was connected to the hook as it was then brought up into the air and eventually onto a hot-air balloon which was strangely shaped like a Meowth's head.

"A wanted poster… how flattering…" came a female voice from within the balloon.

"Flattering, this picture makes me look terrible!"

Looking at the poster they now had in their hands were the two Rocket members that were in the picture, the female had long dark-red hair and green eyes while the man had purple-haired. "You should be happy that the photographer captured the real you then…."

"Exactly…." grinned the male, raising a rose he had in his hand. "The people that took this photo will feel sorry that they ever messed with this face."

"We're all sorry for your face so stay focused, we're here to collect the thing from Mt. Moon as well as capture rare and usual Pokemon…. Don't forget Meowth!" The third member of the group was none other than a Pokemon, a Meowth to be more specific and it could talk too. "Also just remember, I'm the top cat!"

"You got it…" said the male as the Meowth-shaped balloon floated off into the distance before anyone could notice it.

* * *

As they headed down the path that would take them to Cerulean City, Ash had a lot on his mind such as what the Aide told them about this Team Rocket and what they're capable of doing. _I just hope David and Rena don't run into those guys… _he thought to himself, worrying about his two friends from home and he knew that Anna had the same feeling he does. It was then that he saw a mountain up ahead and he said. "What is that?"

"That's Mt. Moon" answered Brock with a smile on his face. "People say that a giant meteor crashed into the mountain back in the prehistoric era…."

"A meteor?" questioned Anna, curiosity getting the better of her. "Is what you're saying actually true?"

"Yes… I think the meteor is called the Moon Stone…."

"Moon Stone?" Anna was surprised by such a stone and wondered if it actually existed back then. However Ash noticed something that made them stop in their track and from the looks of it, there was a Pokemon not too far from them as he took a look at his Pokedex.

_Mankey, the Pig Monkey Pokemon. Mankey is an agile Pokemon that lives in trees, however it angers easily and will not hesitate to attack anything._

Ash had a serious face and puts his Pokedex away. "We'll see about that…." He took a second glance at the Mankey and noticed that it was fast asleep for some reason. Now why would it be asleep in the day was beyond him but now was not the time to dwell too much on that. "Alright, Pidgey come out!"

Pidgey popped out of his Pokeball, and flew beside his trainer after looking at his sleeping opponent. "Pidgey, I want you to use Gust on Mankey." While confused by this order, he flew at the sleeping Mankey and created a powerful Gust that blew it away from where it was. Unfortunately that attack woke it up and it was in a bad mood as well due to being awakened abruptly, much to the dismay of Anna, Pikachu and Brock, before performing a scratch attack which landed a direct hit on Pidgey. "Pidgey, you okay?"

A simple nod from Pidgey confirmed that he was alright before seeing Mankey coming at him again. "Pidgey use Quick Attack!" Pidgey flew at top speed and managed to hit the Pig Monkey, forcing it back a bit as it seen got up and tried to use Karate Chop on the Tiny Bird Pokemon. "Pidgey dodge it!" Upon hearing that command, he flew into the air and barely avoided the attack. "Now use Gust again!" With that said, Pidgey used another Gust attack that blew Mankey away once again, knocking it on its back. "Okay Pokeball go!" Ash threw his Pokeball at Mankey and watched as the Fighting Type was sucked inside and eventually captured. "Alright!"

"That was close…." muttered Anna, letting out a sigh of relief that her brother managed to capture the Mankey before it could attack anyone else. "I think we better get going before we encounter anymore sleeping Pokemon that you would cause to wake up on the wrong side of the bed."

Unfortunately, something else was going to happen as they soon hear a male scream not too far away from where they were. "What was that?" wondered Ash at disbelief. "Is someone in trouble?"

The others remained silent as all 3 trained headed towards where the scream came from and it was upon their arrival that they saw that there was a scientist being attacked by a flock of bat-like Pokemon. "What are those Pokemon?" Ash quickly took out his Pokedex.

_Zubat, the bat Pokemon. Zubat emits ultrasonic cries while it cries. They act as a sonar used to check for objects in its way._

"Just our luck…." He sighed then turned his attention towards Pikachu. "I want you to use Thundershock on the Zubats but wait until I give the signal!" He told his Pokemon and watched as he jumped off of Ash's head. "Guys, when I give the signal we duck in cover so we don't get hit!"

"Alright but we better do it fast!" yelled Anna.

As soon as sparks formed on Pikachu's cheeks, Ash then yelled. "Now!" he and the others ducked to the ground as Pikachu used his Thundershock attack on the attacking Zubats, causing massive super effective damage and forcing them to retreat back inside the cave. "Man that was close…" However it was then that Ash noticed that Pikachu's attack also hit the scientist. "Oh no! Are you okay?"

"I'm fine…." said the scientist, despite the pain he was having but Ash wouldn't stand for that.

"We better get you somewhere to recover!" he told the scientist while bringing him onto his feet with Anna's help. "Any ideas on where the nearest Pokemon Center is?"

"Hold on…." she looked around the area while hoping that there would be one around where they were and it took about a few seconds before she finally noticed it. "I see it! Come on, we better bring him inside!"

Once inside, Ash and the others were heading towards the counter where they hope that Nurse Joy would be there however they saw Chansey there instead. "Where's Nurse Joy?" he asked in a worried voice. "We have someone who needs help!"

Chansey was shocked by this and nodded her head before heading off to find Nurse Joy, fortunately she didn't have to go too far to find the Nurse and soon they came back to find out what happened. However what Ash and Anna didn't know was that Brock was blushing at the sight of Nurse Joy and was smiling as well then as soon as she was at the counter; he held her hands and said. "My name's Brock and I don't know if anyone told you this but you have the most beautiful eyes ever!"

"Why thank you…" smiled a surprised Nurse Joy and just as Brock was going to say something else, Ash and Anna pushed him aside because there was something more important for them to deal with.

"Please help him!" younger female pleaded to the nurse while having a worried look on her face.

"What happened to him?"

"We found him being attacked by a flock of Zubats outside of the entrance to Mt. Moon and we managed to save him but Pikachu's Thundershock also hit him and he's hurt really bad!" explained Ash. "Can you help him?"

"I'll do what I can…." Nurse Joy told them as a stretcher was brought to the group and helped Chansey place the scientist onto it. "Please take him to the critical care room okay?" she told her Pokemon before they took him away while the others watched.

Ash sighed and then turned to Brock before saying. "What's with you anyway?" he asked the former Gym leader. "How come you were flirting with Nurse Joy earlier when we had an injured man with us?"

"Come on Ash! She's a really cute girl…." explained Brock with a serious expression while getting back onto his feet. "Beside, I should warn you that you'll be seeing me flirt with many cute girls on our journey…"

"Still Brock" Anna glanced at him for a moment and turned her attention back towards Ash. "Anyway we should rest for the night and continue our trek in the morning… Hopefully he'll feel better by then."

"Fine…" frowned the male Ketchum, he knew that his sister was right and it was actually getting late after all. "We'll stop for now and go train first thing in the morning…. Then we'll go into Mt. Moon after we think we've done enough."

* * *

Two days have passed since the 3 trainers had rescued the scientist and it was around this time that they got plenty of training done since then, Ash and Anna got up extra early in the morning and were busy training their Pokemon outside of the Pokemon Center as they didn't want to leave until the scientist was well again while Brock was busy training elsewhere which made them wonder why he wasn't training along with them though they wouldn't think too much about it. Plus it wasn't the first time Brock wasn't training with them as it also happened during their training during the course of the previous two days before.

"Way to go Squirtle!" smiled Anna, watching her starter defeating a wild Pidgey with a Water Gun attack then turned her attention towards Ash as his own Pidgey managed to defeat a wild Ratatta in a battle of his own. "How's your training coming along?"

"So far so good sis and yours?"

"It's going great!" said the brunette while smiling brightly at her brother and was glad that they're getting ready for their next Gym Battle although she was still worried about the scientist at the Pokemon Center. _At least training out here is passing the time before he's well enough to leave the Center but we can't stay here for too long… _she thought to herself while training some more with Ash. Fortunately they didn't have to wait any longer as they noticed someone coming out the Pokemon Center and was stretching his arms to smell the fresh air much to the surprise of both twins. "Hey!"

"Huh?" he wondered before taking notice towards the two trainers and after a closer look, he suddenly remembered that one of them was the exact same trainer that saved him from the Zubats two day back. Finding this out made a smile form on his face as they met up with him. "You guys are the greatest! I'd thought I'd never survive the attack but then you showed up and saved me!" he said, happy to see the two again just as Brock was just arriving at the scene.

"Really…. Don't mention it…." said Ash, not knowing what to say to the man. "We were just glad to help…. By the way, why were the Zubats even attacking you Mister?"

"Never call me Mister!" the man told him sternly. "My name is Seymour…. Seymour the scientist! Knowledge, research, science…. Seymour the scientist!" The others didn't know what to say before Seymour spoke again. "I want to repay you somehow….. I know! Maybe I can join you on your trek though Mt. Moon!"

"Well…" Anna began thinking about it for a moment as she didn't want anything else bad happening to Seymour after what the Zubats tries to do to him previously two days back. "Sure I guess….If that's alright with my brother and Brock."

Brock remained silent and simply nodded his head while Ash shrugged then said. "I think he should come with us…. We will need to be careful…." The raven-haired male remembered something. "You ever heard of a group called Team Rocket?"

"No….. Can't say that I have…. Who are they?" he asked before Ash began explained to him about what Oak's Aide warned them about Team Rocket earlier. "Wow…. I'm glad that I'll be with you guys, I sure don't want to run into any of those guys."

"Neither do we…" said Brock before the group entered the cave to begin their long trek into Mt. Moon itself, not knowing that they were being watched by a Ninetales that showed an emotionless face with her was her trainer…. The Crimson Fox himself and he was worried about the well being of the trainers as they don't know that are battle people actually inside of Mt. Moon though he hoped that they would be smart enough to get away from them if spotted.

"You see this? The cave is lit up inside…" began Seymour, while observing the light above him and the others. "People recently placed these lights on the ceiling but the Pokemon inside the cave need the dark and the lights are upsetting them and making them confused."

"That's probably why the Zubats left the cave and attacked you" said Brock in a serious tone though he was also worried about the Pokemon in Mt. Moon as well.

"You see that?" questioned Seymour, pointing to a group of Pokemon planting something onto the ground. "These Paras are planting their mushrooms everywhere and look right there." He also pointed to another Pokemon not too far away from them. "The hot light is drying up these Sandrew…. That's why I'm here; I'm patrolled to protect the mountain from the trouble makers that attack these caves…" It was then he suddenly noticed something. "Where did she go?"

"Who Anna?" wondered Ash before he took a glance of Anna getting closer towards one of the Sandrew lying on the ground and was looking it up on her Pokedex.

_Sandrew, the Mouse Pokemon. Its body is dry. When it gets cold at night, its hide is said to become coated with a fine dew._

"Wow…." Anna put the Pokedex away and remembered that the light was drying them out though she wondered what she could do then got an idea. "Alright Squirtle, come on out!" She let her Squirtle out of her Pokeball then said. "Use your Water Gun, maybe that would help that Sandrew."

"Anna, what are you doing?" the male Ketchum asked his sister upon watching her Squirtle use Water Gun on the Sandrew despite the Ground-Type's weakness to Water Type attacks, which shocked both Seymour and Brock.

"I'm trying to help Sandrew!" she told him with a huff while taking out an empty Pokeball. "Besides, Seymour did mention to use earlier that the light was drying it and other Sandrew up and I wanted to see if I can help it out…." Without another thought she threw it at the mouse Pokemon, capturing it. "Alright!" She was happy to have captured a new Pokemon as she went to retrieve the Pokeball then turned her attention towards Seymour. "Now what's this about troublemakers in this cave?"

"They are most likely here because of the Moon Stone…."

"The Moon Stone?" asked Ash in disbelief, he never heard of the Moonstone and neither did Anna or Brock for the matter. "What is that?"

"Well…" began Seymour, thinking about what he is going to say to the trainers before taking in a deep breath. "The Moon Stone is an awesome boulder that's a million years old or even older…. Deep in these caves the meteor hides though no explorer has found the place of the legendary rock space… We've studied its fragments for a long time and discovered that it increases a Pokemon's power and that is why the attackers are here! They've come to take the Moon Stone or so I've feared!" he soon noticed that the trainers were still a bit confused but he soon continued. "Ever since I was young, I've believed that the Pokemon came to Earth from outer space!"

"What? From Outer space?" all 3 trainers asked in shock.

"Yes… where is the space craft they used to come to Earth you may ask? They've hid it in this cave and it is in fact the Moon Stone…"

"Wow…." said Anna, scratching the back of her head while smiling sheepishly. "That's some interesting story…"

Seymour looked determined and said. "Don't you see? The Moonstone belongs to the Pokemon! We humans must not take it from them!" he glanced at the group and then asked them. "You guys agree with me don't you?"

"Uh… yeah…" answered Ash despite not knowing what else to say to him although a Pokemon was skipping past them right after giving the scientist his answer. "What is that?"

"There's only one way to find out…." said Anna while raising an eyebrow, taking out her Pokedex to see what the Pokemon was.

_Clefairy, the Fairy Pokemon. Clefairy is adored for their cute looks and playfulness. They are thought to be rare, as they do not appear often._

"The Pokedex isn't kidding…." smiled the brunette, happy that they actually found a Clefairy since it really was a rare to ever one in person. "Alright let's go!"

"Oh yeah, I'm going to catch it!" yelled Ash, taking out a Pokeball though Anna had other ideas for the Clefairy as she took brought out one of the balls from her bag.

"Not if I catch it first Ashy!"

"Wait! You can't…" Seymour interrupted before the twins were about to go after the Clefairy, forcing them to watch it go into one of the tunnels. "It's best that you let it stay here… I hope you two would understand."

_Dammit…_ thought Anna, biting her lower lip for a moment only to nod her head with a frown and Ash give Seymour his answer not long afterwards. "Alright… I guess if that's how you want it…" However they heard some voices at one of the tunnels and they were coming from the same one that Clefairy took earlier. "Did you hear that?"

* * *

Meanwhile, Clefairy is frightened by the appearance of two men wearing black outfits complete with black shades approaching her. "What the hell is this thing?" demanded one of the men.

"It looks like a Clefairy…" answered the other man with a grin on his face, not noticing that Ash and the others had arrived at the scene. "This must be our lucky day, wait till the boss finds out that we managed to get our hands on a rare Pokemon."

"I know but remember, we are also here for something more important and we were told that they would be in this exact cave."

"Don't you think I know that?" snapped the man, glaring at his partner then fixed up the collar. "For now let's tie up this Clefairy and go back to work…. A Team Rocket member's work is never done."

This shocked Ash and the others almost instantly when they heard that these two men were part of the group Team Rocket and that Oak's Aide previously wanted them to steer clear from any members of that group however Clefairy was in danger. "Leave her alone!" snapped Anna; this caught the attention of both Rocket members.

"Well…." scowled the man, not happy to see the trainers and the scientist intervening while watching them get in front of the Clefairy. "What do we have here?"

"A couple of trespassers that are looking for trouble I bet!"

"You're the ones looking for trouble!" Ash scowled at the two Rocket members while Pikachu went towards Clefairy to reassure her that everything will be okay. "Plus we're here to stop trouble-makers like you!"

"Is that so?" grinned the other man. "What makes you think you can stop us from taking that Clefairy or finding the Fossils that are hidden deep within these caves?"

"What fossils?" wondered Anna, wanting to know what the Rocket member was talking about.

"The Helix Fossil and the Dome Fossil! We of Team Rocket plan on finding both fossils so we can resurrect the Pokemon whose DNA is on them and we'll sell them for a hefty price then soon…." He didn't get to finish what he was going to say as his partner hit him on the head.

"You fucking idiot! Why did you have to go and blab all that information to those guys?" he turned his attention back towards a surprised Ash and co then spoke in a serious but darkened voice. "Since you know too much already, I'm afraid that we're going to have to eliminate you! Let's go Sandrew!" he released a Pokemon into the battle and it was in fact a Sandrew similar to the one that Anna had captured earlier only more evil.

"Come out Zubat!" his partner sent another familiar Pokemon out and it was indeed a Zubat but was more than ready to attack its enemies.

"Oh great…" muttered Ash with a scowl, even though they were warned to stay away from members Team Rocket but now there is no other choice. They had to fight against the members if they wanted to save Clefairy. "Let's go Pikachu!"

"Don't leave me out! Squirtle I choose you!" Anna sent her Squirtle into the battle as well, wanting to even out the odds. "Now it's two against two, how do you like that?"

The Team Rocket members both laughed at this then with a grin, the first one said. "You really don't think you can win do you? If you do then you better get ready because now you're playing with the big boys!" he turned to his Sandrew. "Sandrew use Scratch attack on that Pikachu!"

"Oh yeah?" scowled Ash, watching the Mouse Pokemon getting ready to strike at Pikachu. "Counter with Quick Attack!" His Electric-Type slammed into the Sandrew's chest at top speed before the Ground-Type knew what was happening.

"This isn't over! Zubat, Leech-life!" The Flying/Poison-Type flew down at Pikachu and looked ready to bite him.

"Quick Squirtle use Bubble!" ordered Anna before the Water-Type blew bubbles that stopped the Bat in its tracks. "Ash, if you have an idea…. You better hurry and do it!"

"Got it! Pikachu use Thundershock!" Pikachu quickly used his Thundershock attack on the Zubat as electricity made its way towards the enemy Pokemon.

"Not so fast…. Sandrew defend Zubat!" shouted the Rocket member, knowing that Electric-Type attacks are usless on Ground-Types like his Sandrew but he didn't notice that Anna had other plans for her opponent.

"Squirtle use Water Gun before the Thundershock makes contact!" Squirtle fired a Water Gun that managed to score a direct hit on Sandrew, pushing it out of the way as Pikachu's Thundershock ends up hitting Zubat. Both Rocket members watched in dismay as their respective Pokemon went down.

"You are going to regret this!" snapped the other man as he and his partner recalled their Pokemon and switched to different Pokeballs. "Go Ekans!" he released a Snake Pokemon into the battle, leading to Anna taking a look at her Pokedex.

_Ekans, the Snake Pokemon. The older it gets, the longer it grows. At night, it wraps its long body around tree branches to rest._

"You're up now Rattata!" his partner let his second Pokemon out to fight the two children. "Time for round two!"

"Alright, Mankey I choose you!" Ash switched to his newly caught Mankey as he would remember that Fighting-Types have the advantage over Normal-Type Pokemon like Rattata.

Anna smiled to her brother and recalled her Squirtle. "Let's go Sandrew!" she decided to use her own Sandrew in the battle to see what it can do and if it was cooled down enough to fight. "I hope this works… Sandrew, Scratch on Ekans!" The Mouse Pokemon managed to hit the Snake with a powerful scratch.

"You're gonna pay for that! Rattata, Quick Attack!" Rattata moved at top speed towards Sandrew.

"Makney defend Sandrew!" yelled Ash, biting his lower lip as his Mankey took the hit for Anna's Sandrew since she never used her new Ground-Type in battle before. "Now use Low Kick!" The Pig Monkey performed a Low Kick that hit Rattata with Super Effective damage. "Now use Karate Chop!"

It was then that Mankey performed a Karate Chop that was more than enough to bring down the Rattata for good. "Drat!" muttered the Rocket member, recalling his fallen Rattata. "You're up now Zubat!"

"Mankey Return!" Ash called Mankey back to his Pokeball. "It's your turn Butterfree!" he released his Bug/Flying-Type. "It's time we end this!"

"We shall!" scowled the Rocket member's partner. "Ekans, Poison Sting!" His Poison-Type spat out poisonous needles at Butterfree and didn't know the grin Ash had on his face.

"Butterfree, use Whirlwind to blow them away!" Butterfree quickly flapped his wings to blow away the attack before it could make contact. "Now use Confusion!" He nodded and used his Psychic-Type attack on the Ekans.

"You little pest, Zubat use Wing Attack!" The other man's Zubat flew straight at Butterfree and looked ready to hit him with one of his wings.

"Sandrew, Scratch!" ordered Anna, successfully having her Sandrew stopping the Zubat from hurting Butterfree.

"Thanks sis…" smiled Ash before turning his attention towards his Pokemon then said with a nod. "Butterfree use Confusion on Zubat and Ekans!" Soon the Bug/Flying-Type used another Confusion attack this time hitting both enemy Pokemon and watching them going down. "Alright!"

"Arrgh!" screamed both Rockets as they withdrew their respective Pokemon and one of the men spoke just as they were preparing to get away. "Don't think that you've won! There are still other Rocket members here in Mt. Moon and we will get you!"

"Oh really? Butterfree, Stun Spore!" Ash had his Butterfree release a yellow powder that stopped both Team Rocket members in their tracks, causing them to collapse onto the ground and leaving them unable to move anywhere. "If there are other members of Team Rocket in this cave then we need to be ready for them…."

"You're right…. Plus we need to know if these so called-fossils they're looking for actually exist" added Anna then noticed that something was wrong. "Oh no where's Clefairy?"

"What? Clefairy's gone?"

"Yes!" yelled Anna with a worried expression on her face as she was fearing for what would happen if Clefairy ended up taken by other members of Team Rocket while she and the others were preoccupied earlier. "We need to find her before Team Rocket does and fast!"

"Good idea…." They made off into one of the tunnels, hoping that they would get to Clefairy on time so that no harm would come to her. However as they were looking around for the Fairy Pokemon, Seymour was secretly amazed by the existence of the Helix Fossil and the Dome Fossil as well as the fact that they can be revived as living Pokemon again…. This was something he never knew when he first came to Mt. Moon and hoped that the Rockets were actually telling the truth about them but first things first…. They needed to find Clefairy.

"Curse those brats!" scowled one of the now paralyzed Team Rocket members, unable to move any part of his body no matter what he does or how hard he tried to. "When we regain the ability to move our body, they are so dead! You hear me? DEAD! D… E… D.. DEAD!"

"Don't you mean D…E…A...D…"

"Shut…. Up…" he yelled out of anger, not wanting to be corrected especially at a time like this. "Can things get any worse?"

"Oh yes they can…." came a deep male voice that caught both Rocket members off guard as all they saw was a shadow of a man on the group but then looked to see where it was coming from only for their faces to change into a horrified expression.

"Oh shit!"

* * *

In the meantime, Ash and co were at another part of Mt. Moon in search of the missing Clefairy though they also need to be careful as they don't want to run into anymore members of Team Rocket along with way. "Where could she be…." said Anna, letting out a small sigh. "I hope we're not too late… I wouldn't forgive myself if anything bad happened to her…"

"Don't worry Anna…" reassured Ash with a light smile, just hoping it would cheer his twin up a bit. "We'll find her, this I can promise you."

"I hope you're right…"

"Since when was I ever wrong about something?" he asked placing a hand on her shoulder and watching her giving him a sad smile though to be honest, there were times where he had been wrong about a few things though he didn't want to think too much on that. "Besides, Butterfree will help out and Pidgey as well."

"Thank you…" It really did make Anna feel better even it was a little of course she'll feel even better once Clefairy is safe and sound though fortunately the worse hasn't come yet so they still have plenty of time. It took them about almost a minute or two but they eventually climbed up to the top of the cliff and at a nearby lake was a frightened Clefairy. "There she is!" she was starting to lighten up as she ran over towards where Clefairy was. "Are you okay?"

The Clefairy remained silent and gave a simple nod to confirm that she's okay. However just as Anna was about to say something else, she gasped in shock as not too far from where she was standing was another member of Team Rocket. "Well, well…." He said with an evil grin. "What an unexpected surprise…. I'd thought you'd be my allies arriving to give me good news… However since you're not them, I'm afraid I'm going to have to take you out myself…"

Ash gritted his teeth as did Anna and Brock while watching the Rocket member releasing a Pokemon from its Pokeball but it wasn't anything they've ever seen as Ash took his Pokedex out.

_Raticate, the Rat Pokemon. The evolved form of Rattata. Its hind feet are webbed and they act as flippers, so it can swim in rivers and hunt for prey._

"An evolved form of Rattata huh?" he asked himself before turning his attention towards his Pikachu. "This will be tough but are you ready Pikachu?"

Pikachu nodded and was about to say something when Brock interrupted. "Sorry Ash… You're not going to be the one to go up against him…" he said with a smile. "I am."

"Are you sure Brock?"

"Of course I'm sure…" the older trainer told him then took out a Pokeball as he glanced at the Rocket and his Raticate. "Alright go Zubat!" Upon throwing it, the ball released a Pokemon that Ash and Anna were shocked to see.

"What the…" muttered Ash, not wanting to believe what he was seeing. "Since when do you have a Zubat? You never used it in our battle at Pewter City unless you…"

Brock grinned at his friend then said. "Unless I happened to have captured a Zubat before the rest of them fled all back into Mt. Moon two days earlier because that's exactly what I did."

"Well that explains why you weren't training with us during the previous two days…" began Anna, still surprised by what she just found out yet they still have more important matters to take care of. "Still I hope you know what you're doing by using your newest Pokemon."

"I'll be fine…" Brock told her. "I have a few tricks I want to try out with my Zubat."

"You're joking right?" laughed the Team Rocket member in front of him, finding it amusing that his opponent was using a small bat against his rat. "You don't think that your weak Zubat can defeat my Raticate do you?"

"I won't know until I try…" scowled Brock and nodded to his Zubat. "Zubat use Wing Attack!"

"Counter with Quick Attack!" Zubat flew down at Raticate only to be hit by a powerful Quick Attack from the Normal-Type. "Don't tell me this is all you got? I'm barely warmed up here…. Think you can try something better than that?"

_That's just great… _thought Brock, biting his lower lip at how much stronger the Raticate looked. "Zubat try your Leech Life!"

"Tackle it Raticate!" ordered the Rocket member as Raticate landed another successful hit on Zubat. "I'm beginning to look disappointed right now you know! You can forfeit the match so I can save you the humiliation!"

"We're not giving up right Zubat?" he asked his newest Pokemon, whose answer is just a nod of its head.

"Very well, you leave me with no other choice…. Raticate end this battle with Hyper Fang!"

As Raticate jumped at Zubat, Brock knew he had to do something fast or else however he had an idea that might help him win. "Zubat, Supersonic!" The Flying/Poison-Type created a supersonic sound which managed to hit the Rat Pokemon before could use its Fangs, causing it to crash onto the ground. "Now use Wing Attack!" With that said, Zubat managed to land to direct hit with one of its wings.

"If you think that will stop me? Think again! Raticate use…" the Team Rocket member never got to finish his order when he saw that his Pokemon was now confused with swirling eyes as it wondered what to do before hit a wall. "What have you done to my Raticate?"

"Just a little trick up my sleeve to turn the tide of this battle…" Brock raised Zubat's Pokeball and recalled his Pokemon. "Now let's see how you like this! Go Onix!" In Zubat's place was Brock's Rock Snake Pokemon. "Use Rock Throw!"

The Rock/Ground-Type threw rocks in the direction of Raticate, causing massive damage to the Normal-Type. "You are going to regret this! Raticate concentrate and use Hyper Fang!" The Rat Pokemon shook its head and tried to focus its attack on Onix, which isn't a problem due to the other Pokemon's size however as it performed the Hyper Fang attack, it did not do much damage.

"Sorry to disappoint you but since Onix is part Rock-Type; your Raticate's attacks are not as deadly…" grinned Brock. "Now it's time for us to end this battle, Onix…. Use Rock Tomb!"

Onix roared as it performed a new attack which managed to hit Raticate from above and the Rocket member could only watch as his Pokemon was brought down the powerful Rock Snake. "You bastard!" he withdrew the Rat back into is Pokeball. "Don't think that I will let you get away with this!"

"Guess again! Onix, Rock Tomb again!" The Rocket member was about to take out his gun as he felt another attack happening and before he knew it, he was suddenly trapped by the opposing Pokemon. "That should stop you from going anywhere for a while!"

"Shhh…. It's okay now…" whispered Anna, holding onto Clefairy and showing her that there was nothing to worry about since the Team Rocket member was no longer a threat them due to being trapped. "We should get going before anymore show up."

"You don't have to tell me twice…." said Ash while leading the others away from the area without having to worry about the Rocket they battled against much to the imprisoned member's dismay.

* * *

Back at the previous part of the cave, the talking Meowth sniffed around with a serious expression on his face. "Something don't smell right…" he said to his partners as he scowled. "Two of our allies where here but somehow they don't appear to be anywhere else… As if they vanished without a trace!"

"How can this be possible?" wondered the female as her eyes darkened upon hearing that news. "There's no way it could have happened unless…." She quickly realized something then turned to the purple-haired male. "Someone must have been here and defeated them!"

"Don't tell me that it's that do-gooder Crimson Fox behind this…"

"I have no idea…. However whoever was behind this and wants to keep up from getting those fossils, we shall deal with them personally… " she said.

"Plus they will know that I am the top-cat!" added Meowth with a grin.

"We know Meowth….. We know…."

* * *

Ash and co decided to take a break due to having battled 3 Team Rocket members already, of course they need to find their way out of the cave soon though they were also curious about the fossils they learned about too. "Hey Brock…" began the black-haired trainer, watching what Brock was feeding his Zubat. "What is that?"

"It's called Pokemon Food" answered Brock. "I made it from my own secret recipe; the ingredients are specially blended for each Pokemon."

"Wow…." Ash was surprised upon learning that and decided to give some Pokemon Food to his Butterfree, he started smiling as his Bug/Flying-Type enjoyed it. "How does it taste?"

"I've been developing it for years…." explained the former Gym Leader with a smile. "I keep improving on recipe…. I'll make a batch for Pikachu."

"I'll try some…" suggested Seymour, taking a bite of the food. "Hmmmm….. not bad."

"Really? Let me…." Ash was about to finish when he then noticed that Anna wasn't paying attention to them but rather had her eyes on Clefairy. "Anna?"

"Huh?" she asked, having heard her brother's voice. "What is it Ash?"

"Is something wrong?"

She shook her head with her eyes closed. "I'm okay….." she reassured, giving him a light smile before seeing something which gave her a confused look. "What exactly is Butterfree and Zubat eating?"

"It's called Pokemon Food" he told the brunette, placing a piece of Pokemon Food into her hand. "You feed it to your Pokemon and it's made from Brock's secret recipe…. Give it a try."

"Alright…." She replied then carefully approached Clefairy, who was sitting next to Pikachu on a rock not too far from where the trainers were, talking about something that the others don't know about. "Want to try some?" She asked it while being slightly nervous as the Clefairy cautiously came towards the girl and took a small bite of it. To her surprise, the Fairy Pokemon loved it and gave a happy chirp. "I'm glad you like it, a friend of mine made it."

"Would you look at that…." smiled Ash, watching what had just happened. "It looks like Anna made a friend." Suddenly Pikachu was pointing to where Clefairy was currently standing. "What is it Pikachu?"

The only answer was Pikachu and Clefairy taking off on the humans towards the direction that the electric mouse was previously pointing at. This made Ash and Anna curious about where they were heading.

* * *

"Damn…. We missed the party again…" scowled the red-haired woman, seeing that the area where Ash and co had previously battled against the third Rocket member was completely deserted now and it was now late at night. "It looks like whoever's here in this cave somehow took another one of our allies."

"Well maybe if we weren't so busy hiding the Meowth-head balloon, we wouldn't be having this problem now would we?" added the purple-haired male, not happy that they were too late to help out. "I have a feeling that the ones responsible might be after the fossils as well so we will need to be quick if we want to catch up to them."

"In any case… should we cross paths with those pest, we will be ready for them and they better watch out because they're out looking for trouble!"

"That right and we will make it double as well…." grinned the man, taking a sniff of his red rose, wanting to make sure that anyone who stands in their way will feel the true power of Team Rocket.

* * *

Ash was becoming confused as he and his friends followed Pikachu and Clefairy towards in the direction they were taking. "This is ridiculous, where is Pikachu taking us?" he asked.

"I'm not sure…." answered Anna, praying that they don't end up having to deal with anything else in the cave because she wanted some rest. "Huh?" she heard a male voice up ahead and he sounded rather angry.

"What do you think you're doing? Get away from my fossils!"

The 4 humans ran as fast as they can, especially when Seymour heard the word fossils and soon they ended up catching the glimpse of Pikachu and Clefairy in front of a rather annoyed man with glasses. "What's going on?" asked Ash, wondering why the man was angry.

"It's none of your business!" snapped the man, fixing up his glasses. "If you've come to take my fossils then guess again! They're both mine!"

"Wait, did you just say fossils?" questioned a surprised Seymour, hoping that the fossils that the other man had with him are actually what he thinks they are. "You don't think that those fossils are the…"

"Helix Fossil and the Dome Fossil? Yes and you can't have them…" suddenly the man saw something that Clefairy was holding in her hands then grinned. "Which of you are Pokemon trainers?"

"We're Pokemon trainers…" answered Anna with a serious expression on her face and her hands on her hips. "What are you up to?"

"I have a wager for you two and you can't back down from this… How about the 3 of us have a battle? If you win, I'll give you the fossils I have but if I win on the other hand… The rock that Clefairy of yours has will belong to me!"

"What?" exclaimed Anna, wondering what the man was talking about when he said the rock that Clefairy was holding… before she could open her mouth to respond to what he said, Ash suddenly interrupted.

"We accept your challenge!" he scowled at the other man and saw him grinning back.

"Excellent! Let's get started!" he threw a Pokeball into the air and released an unfamiliar Pokemon in front of Ash and the others, causing them to cover their noses from the stench.

_I wonder what that is…_ thought Ash, checking his Pokedex to find out about the Pokemon that the man just sent out.

_Grimer, the Sludge Pokemon. It is made of hardened sludge and it smells too putrid to touch. Even weeds don't grow in its path._

"Just my luck…" he said to himself then nodded at Butterfree. "You're up now!" With that said, he watched his Butterfly Pokemon enter the battlefield. "Use Gust!"

Butterfree used a powerful Gust attack which managed to hit Grimer and pushed it back a bit. "You're asking for it aren't you?" scowled the man, turning to her Grimer. "Show them a Sludge attack!"

"Counter with Whirlwind!" ordered Ash as Grimer spit sludge out of its mouth only for it to be sent back at it by Butterfree's powerful Whirlwind attack. "If you think that's cool why don't you watch this! Butterfree, use Confusion now!"

"Oh fudge…." muttered the man, seeing his Grimer hit by the Psychic-Type attack and because of the Super Effective damage, it was more than enough to bring down the Poison-Type. "Grimer Return!" he recalled the Sludge Pokemon without another thought and said. "Don't think that you've won yet! We still got round two! Go Voltorb!"

Upon sending out his next Pokemon, Anna looked at her own Pokedex to see what the ball was.

_Voltorb, the Ball Pokemon. It is usually found in power plants. Easily mistaken for a Pokeball, they have zapped many people._

"You better be careful…" she warned the twin. "If that Pokemon knows Electric-Type moves, then it will bring Butterfree down in no time!"

"I know…" he recalled his Pokemon and switched to his next Pokemon, he knew which one he can use too. "Go Pikachu!"

(Got it!) the Electric Mouse jumped into the fray.

"So its Electric-Type vs Electric-Type…" grinned the man, thinking this would get interesting. "Let's see which one of them is the superior one… Voltorb, Tackle attack!"

"Pikachu, dodge it!" commanded Ash, watching as Pikachu managed to dodge the attack without any worries. "Now try a Quick Attack!" The younger man's Electric-Type slammed right into the opponent's. "Time for an Iron Tail!"

Pikachu jumped and slammed his glowing tail into Voltorb, pushing it back a bit by the power of the attack. "Voltorb, use Sonicboom!" Voltorb began spinning around to create a tornado-like attack that hit Pikachu. "Now use Tackle at full-power!"

"Use Quick Attack now!" ordered Ash as both Electric-Types charged at each other, however Pikachu was the fastest due to his attack and hits Voltorb with enough power to bring down the Ball Pokemon. "You want to stop now?"

"No way Jose!" snapped the man, recalling his Voltorb and then sending out his final Pokemon against his opponent. Without any thoughts, Ash took out his Pokedex again.

_Koffing, the Poison Gas Pokemon. In hot places, its internal gases could expand and explode without any warning. Be very careful!_

"Alright, then I have no choice…. Butterfree, come out!" Ash switched back to his Buterfree and then sighed, knowing that it has come to this. "Use Tackle!"

"Dodge it and use Smokescreen!" Koffing avoided the attack and exhaled black-smoke to blind his opponent. "Let's see you get out of that one!"

"Very well… Butterfree, Whirlwind now!" The Bug/Flying-Type created another powerful wind that blew the Smokescreen away and revealed the location of the Poison-Type. "Now time for Confusion!"

"Aahh…." The man watched his Koffing hit by a critical Confusion attack and before he knew it the battle was over. "I give up! I'll share!" he knelt down in defeat and recalled his fallen Koffing. "Take them… take the fossils…"

"Alright….." Ash nodded to the others as he walked towards the man and took the Dome Fossil out of the bag while Anna took the Helix Fossil from him. "You don't have to be down on yourself, you just need to train in order to get better…."

"I understand…. I never gave you my name…. I'm Miguel."

"Well my name's…" Ash never got to finish what he was going to say when two Team Rocket members suddenly showed up above a nearby tree and they were pissed as they came down to where he and the others were standing. "Oh great…. Not now!"

"We must thank to for finding the fossils…" said one of the Rockets with an evil grin on his face and his gun aimed at the trainers. "A shame that we will have to take them away for you."

"Not going to happen!" snapped Anna, raising a Pokeball at both thieves. "Nidoran, I choose you!" She brought out her Nidoran. "If you want them, you'll have to go through us first!"

"So be it! Go Rattata!" both Team Rocket members released their respective Normal-Types into battle. "It's two against one and you won't stand a chance against us!"

"Why don't we make it two against two?" Ash countered with Mankey and stood next to his twin sister.

"Let's get this part started!" said both Rockets while nodding to each other. "Rattata, Quick Attack! Crush those brats!"

At top speed, both Rattatas slammed into their respective opponents and the twins scowled when that happened. "Mankey, use Low Kick!" The Pig Monkey got up and managed to hit one of the Rattatas with a Super Effective kick.

"Nidoran, Double Kick!" ordered Anna as the female Poison Pin jumped into the air and kicked the other Rattata with two kicks, one from each foot.

"No way!" exclaimed both Rockets upon recalling their fallen Pokemon and then one of them said. "You two are trying our patience and we will get those fossils if it's the last thing we do! Go Zubat!"

"Sandrew, let's bring it on!" the two sent out their last Pokemon against the two Ketchums, their response is recalling Mankey and Nidoran.

"Butterfree, here we go!" Ash sent his Butterfree into action once again.

Anna threw her own Pokeball into the air. "I choose you Squirtle!"

"You know what? It's time for us to take our Kid Gloves off because now it is personal…" scowled one of the Rockets. "Sandrew, Scratch attack!"

"Butterefree, take flight!" The Butterfly quickly got into the air and avoided the attack while angering the Mouse Pokemon.

"Zubat, go after it and strike with Wing Attack!" The Bat flew up after Butterfree and soon got into the position to attack with one of its wings.

"Oh no you don't! Squirtle, Water Gun!" countered Anna, having Squirtle help Butterfree and hurt Zubat with its Water-Type attack.

"Alright, Butterfree…. Let them have it, Confusion!" Butterfree's signature Psychic-Type attack stopped Zubat in its tracks and sent it crashing onto the ground bellow much to the dismay of one of the Rocket members. "Thanks sis."

"Anytime."

However this was more than the other Rocket can take, as he mentally cursed his partner's uselessness and watched him recall the Zubat. "You are getting on my nerves now! Sandrew, Scratch again!"

"Sleep Powder!" Ash's Butterfree quickly created blue powder to put the Ground-Type to sleep before it could have a chance to react. "Now's your chance!"

"Got it!" smiled Anna then turned her attention back to her Squirtle before giving her a nod. "Water Gun!" The Tiny Turtle spit out its Water-Type attack to defeat the Sandrew and end the battle.

The now furious Rocket member was beginning to lose it as he withdrew his defeated Pokemon. "You little…." Just was he was about to finish, Butterfree used his String Shot attack to tie up both thieves and pin them against the nearby tree. "Aahh! What did you do?"

:"Just a little reminder so don't you think of coming after us again!" snapped Ash as he brought Butterfree back into the Pokeball and Anna did the same for Squirtle before seeing Pikachu and Clefairy leading them away from the Rockets.

"I'm going to be stuck with you here, am I?" he asked his partner while struggling to get free of his binds but to no avail.

"I need to go to the bathroom…" muttered the partner, causing the other man to groan in annoyance.

* * *

While following where Pikachu and Clefairy were going once again, Seymour was busy studying the designs of the Helix Fossil and the Dome Fossil. Needless to see, he was amazed that they truly are genuine fossils by their appearance and size. "This is incredible!" he said with amazement as his face grew into a wide smile. "This is a truly wonderful discovery! I can't wait to tell my colleagues this!"

"If you think its amazing now…" began Miguel, fixing his glasses up a bit. "Wait till you take them to the lab on Cinnabar Island to bring them back to life as real Pokemon."

"Huh?" wondered Ash, stopping in his tracks and turning to face Miguel in disbelief upon hearing that. "What did you just say?"

"Don't you know? The fossils that scientist is studying can be brought back to life as the Pokemon whose DNA is on them…. All you have to do is take them to the lab on Cinnabar Island and the can be revived for you. Simple as that."

"This is great!" exclaimed an even more excited Seymour, this was something that he never knew and this will help for his research while Ash and his friends remained silent though they were surprised by finding that out. "We really need to get to Cinnabar Island as soon as possible; I want to see this happen for my very eyes."

"Well…." Ash stopped from finishing when he heard Pikachu's voice to the right, making him curious as he went over towards where his Pokemon was standing. "It looks like another cave…." Soon they saw the two Pokemon enter the cave and followed close behind, it didn't take long for them to arrive at the end to see something really surprising waiting for them. "What is that?"

"It's the core of the Moon Stone…" answered Seymour in amazement.

"Wow…." breathed Anna, just as amazed as the scientist was. "It looks huge…."

"So the Moon Stone legend is true…." said Brock.

"Wait a minute…." interrupted Ash, having taken noticed to something that surprised him. "Clefairy's doing something."

The Clefairy slowly approached the Moon Stone and once at her destination, she placed the stone she had in her hand in-between others that were gathered around it. This soon caused all the stones to glow bright blue and eventually the Moon Stone did the same. Suddenly several other Clefairy began to appear before it as they met up with the 5 humans. "Look at that…." said Anna as the Clefairy she befriended with approached her with a light smile then bowed down, saying thanks for protecting her from Team Rocket earlier. "You're welcome…"

It was then that the rest of the Clefairy began to do a dance around the Moon Stone itself and all Ash and co could do was watch in awe at this moment. "Amazing, these Clefairy seemed to have formed their own society…. This is an incredible sight."

The Clefairy that Ash and co met earlier soon turned her attention to Anna and began talking to her. "Huh?" asked the brunette with a confused look on her face as Clefairy was trying to tell her about something, surprisingly Anna somehow understood her and smiled. "I see…. I think I understand…."

"Anna… what are you two talking about?" wondered Ash, catching a glance at the two speaking to each other.

"Well apparently the Clefairy are praying to the Moon Stone…." said Anna with a light smile.

This confused Seymour and the turned his attention towards the Moon Stone itself. "Is it because it came down from the heavens?"

"Maybe…." she replied, still a bit confused herself. "I guess the legends are true and it did come from space after all."

"Of course… it all makes sense now!" exclaimed a once again excited Seymour, happy to hear about this discovery. "Outer space… Pokemon… and the human race will ride the Moon Stone into space! First to the Moon, then to Mars, then together to the stars!"

"Stars?" came an unfamiliar voice, causing Ash and the others to turn around to see who said that but are shocked by what they saw. "That's our cue!"

"What is that and did it just talk?" a shocked Anna took a look on her Pokedex in order to see what the talking Pokemon was but was also wondering how it was capable of talking as well.

_Meowth, the Scratch Cat Pokemon. It appears to be more active at night and it loves round and shiny things. It can't stop from picking them up._

"I don't believe it…" began the girl only for black smoke to suddenly appear inside of the cave, forcing the humans, Pikachu and the Clefairy to cover their mouth before they start coughing. "What is happening?"

Waiting outside were none other 4 figures within the smoke itself. "Don't be frightened little girl…."

"Allow us to introduce ourselves…."

"To protect the world from devastation…."

"To unite the peoples within out nation…."

"To denounce the evils of truth and love…"

"To extend our reach from the starts above…"

"Jessie…"

"James..."

"Team Rocket…. Blast off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!"

"Man…. Not again…" muttered Ash with a groan while gritting his teeth at the sight of the duo and their Pokemon, which were revealed to be not only Meowth but also a Koffing and an Ekans as well. "Why are you here?"

"You don't get it do you?" grinned Jessie. "We are here to keep you from finding the fossils as they are going to be the property of Team Rocket…" she then realized something. "Wait a minute, of course…. You must be the ones responsible for the disappearance of our allies here."

"You mean the other Rocket members?" demanded Anna, scowling at the trio. "Also if you're looking for the Helix Fossil and the Dome Fossil…. You're out of luck because we already have them."

"Not for long you don't!" snapped James. "Koffing go get them!"

"You too Ekans!"

Ash muttered a curse then took out a Pokeball. "Pidgey, I choose you!" he let Pidgey out to fight them while Anna sent her Squirtle. "We defeated your allies and like what we told them, there is no way in hell we're letting you have those fossils!"

"Oh really?" laughed Meowth, extending his claws out at the trainers. "Not only will we be taking those fossils from you but we'll also take that Moon Stone and those Clefairy as an added bonus too!"

"Not going to happen!" snapped Anna. "Squirtle, use Bubble!"

"Ekans, Poison Sting!" The Ekans firing a Poison Sting attack to block the Bubble attack sent at it by Squirtle. "Now use Wrap!" The Snake jumped at Squirtle and wrapped itself around the Water Type.

"Pidgey, Quick Attack!" commanded Ash, having his Normal/Flying-Type free the Tiny Turtle from her binds and do some damage to Ekans to boot.

(Are you okay Squirtle?)

(I'm fine….) she replied to the other Pokemon with a nod of her head to confirm.

James huffed and raised his rose then said. "Honestly Jessie, can't your Ekans get a tighter grip on your opponent's Pokemon?" he closed his eyes as his grin changed into a scowl. "Koffing, sludge attack!"

"Squirtle, quick use Withdraw!" The Water-Type managed to get into her shell just before the sludge made contact. "Now counter with Water Gun!" With that said, she managed to fire a Water Gun that hit the Poison-Type.

"Ekans, use Acid attack!"

"Pidgey, take flight and dodge it!" Ekans spit out some acid at the Pidgey only to see him going into the sky to get out of the way. "Pidgey, us Gust attack now!" The Normal/Flying-Type sent out a powerful Gust to send the Snake Pokemon flying back.

"If you think that will stop us then you twerps are sadly mistaken…." said Jessie. "Ekan, Poison Sting!"

"Koffing, Poison Gas attack!"

Ekans began firing a Poison Sting barrage while Koffing exhaled poisonous smoke from its mouth, which began to cover the entire battlefield. "We have to do something or our Pokemon will get poisoned!" yelled Anna.

"I know… Pidgey, send it back with Whirlwind!" Upon hearing that order, Pidgey flapped his wings as fast as he could, causing the Poison Sting to drop to the ground and the Poison Gas to be blown away. "Now its our turn! Pidgey, use Gust at full-power!"

"Use Water Gun again!" Pidgey's Gust attack began consuming both Ekans and Koffing while Squirtle shot out another Water Gun to hit the two Pokemon just before they could hit the ground for more damaged, finally bringing them down. "That should do it!"

Pidgey and Squirtle were glad to have defeated their opponents however there was a strange feeling inside of them and they suddenly began to glow. "Ash! You have to look at this!" began Anna in surprise. "Pidgey and Squirtle are evolving!"

Ash remained silent as his Pokemon and Anna's began to change form and size… eventually when the light faded, they had become completely different than they did before. He easily recognized Pidgey's new form to be Pidgeotto while taking out his Pokedex to find out what his twin's starter had evolved into.

_Wartortle, the Turtle Pokemon. The evolved form of Squirtle. When trapped, this Pokemon will pull in its head, but its tail will still stick out a little bit._

"This is great!" he finally spoke with a smile on his face and was happy for his new Pidgeotto. "How does it feel?"

(I'm not sure…. But it actually feels great.)

"Squirtle… or should I say Wartortle…" smiled Anna, placing a hand on her Pokemon's head. "I'm really proud of you…. You've done a great job."

"Argh! You idiots!" screamed Meowth, not happy that his partners had lost to two children and let out a sigh after scratching their faces out of anger. "If you want something done right…" He decided to go into the battle himself before extending his claws. "Now it's time for a real Pokemon to get some action!"

"Alright then… Are you ready Pikachu?" Pikachu's answer was a nod as he went into the battle himself, sparks forming on his cheeks which Meowth found amusing. "Alright Pikachu, let's hit him with Quick Attack!"

The Electric-Type hit Meowth at top speed. "Don't think that will bring me down!" the Normal-Type jumped at Pikachu and managed to perform a Scratch attack on him. "How would you like that?"

"He's tough…. Use Iron Tail now!" ordered Ash, watching Pikachu using his Iron Attack and Meowth countered with the claws, fortunately the claw shattered much to the Scratch Cat's dismay and the glowing tail's power did some damage on him. "Now use Thundershock!" With a yell, Pikachu's Electric-Type was more than enough to defeat the talking Pokemon and send it flying backwards out of the cave. "Alright we did it!"

"Well I hope that's the last of Team Rocket because…" it was then that Anna suddenly saw that something was wrong. "Two of them are gone?"

"What?" exclaimed Ash in disbelief, realizing that Anna was right as there was no sign of Jessie or James at all. "Where did they go?" Just then he and the others heard evil laughing from behind them as they turned to see that the Moon Stone was gone and a large hole was where it once stood. "I can't believe this! They took the Moon Stone while we were busy dealing with Meowth!"

"I know!" Anna was furious at the duo and turned to face her brother. "We'll find them… they couldn't have gotten far with it."

"Alright… Onix let go!" Brock released his Rock/Ground-Type into the cave. "Follow them underground!" The Rock Snake burrowed into the ground in order to search for Jessie and James.

"We better go…. There might still be a chance to find them…" Ash and co made their way out with Pikachu, Pidgeotto, Wartortle and one of the Clefairy following close behind.

* * *

Outside, Jessie, James and their Pokemon were laughing as they rode down the mountain with the Moon Stone. "This was easier than I'd thought…" laughed James, he didn't think that the trainers would be so busy with Meowth that they failed to notice that he and Jessie were using this chance to take at least one constellation prize despite having failed to get the fossils.

"You know what they say…." grinned Jessie. "Nice guys always…."

"Finish last!" James managed to finish what his partner was about to say.

"Plus we just went from the worse to the first!" Meowth knew that everything was going according as he had planned and he never thought it would happen with anyone other than the police. "Now let's get this thing back to HQ before something else happens!"

Unfortunately for them, something did happen as the Moon Stone suddenly stopped in its tracks which in turn sent the trio flying into a nearby rock. "What the hell?" wondered James, groaning at the pain he was now feeling only to suddenly see a Pokemon standing on top of it. It was Ninetales and she was pissed while jumping down at them. "What is that thing?"

"My head hurts!" muttered Jessie before seeing Onix rising out of the ground to see that something had already beaten him to the punch. Then just to make things worse for the trio, Ash and his friends showed up. "Not them again…"

"Huh?" Anna was shocked by the sight of the Ninetales growling at the Rocket trio and looked at her Pokedex. "I wonder what that is…."

_Ninetales, the Fox Pokemon. According to an enduring legend, 9 noble saints were united and reincarnated into this Pokemon._

The Fox simply glanced at the trainers then turned her attention towards the Rocket trio before running towards them. "Koffing, stop that Pokemon now!" James had his Koffing attack the other Pokemon only for her to breathe fire at it, stopping it in its track. "No way!"

Ash and co remained silent, realizing that Ninetales was in fact a Fire-Type Pokemon if she could breathe fire. Then without another thought, the Fox Pokemon charged at her foes once again…. Only this time her fur caught on fire and she became much faster, this caught the Rockets off guard and before they knew it…. a huge explosion took place which destroyed the entire Moon Stone with Ninetales landing on her feet at the other side.

"This shouldn't be happening!" cried an upset Jessie as she and her allies were sent flying into the sky. "It looks like Team Rocket really is…."

"Blasting off in the speed of light!" added James before a star formed in the night sky as soon as he said that.

The rest of the Clefairy began coming out of the hole that Onix made and was shocked by the sight of the Moon Stone shards floating down to the ground. They wondered what had just happened as some of the shards made contact with a small group of Clefairy, triggering an evolution and turned them into different Pokemon. "Wow…" Anna looked at her Pokedex again.

_Clefable, the Fairy Pokemon. The evolved form of Clefairy. They appear to be very protective of their own world. It's a kind of fairy, rarely seen by people._

"Could the Moon Stone have done this?" wondered Seymour at disbelief by what he was seeing.

"Indeed it has…" said a male voice from the right as Ash and his friends saw Ninetales going towards a certain masked-man, who began gently stroking her fur. "I see you've had quite a handful against Team Rocket haven't you?"

"Huh?" this surprised Ash when he realized that the man appearing before them was Ninetales' trainer all along. "Excuse me but how did you know about our battles with the Team Rocket members here at Mt. Moon?"

"I have my reasons Ash Ketchum…" he grinned at the younger man, shocking him as to how the masked-man knew his name despite meeting for the first time. "I am the Crimson Fox and I am a vigilante who fights for truth and justice for all humans and Pokemon alike… Plus I've been busy picking up a few familiar stragglers along the way…" He showed them the 5 Team Rocket members they had previously defeated before, each thief had their hands bounded to a single chain. "You are lucky to have defeated them but I must warn you…. The rest of Team Rocket will mark you as their primary target because of this so you need to become stronger together if you want to survive their onslaught… The same goes for your sister…"

"Wait… how do you know I'm Ash's sister?" questioned the brunette, just as confused as Ash was.

"All will be revealed in due time…" answered the Crimson Fox with a grin. "Now if you will excuse me, I need to take this rift-raft to the proper authorities…." With that he and his Ninetales led the 5 captured Rockets away from the area as Ash, Anna and Brock were wondering who he really is and how he knows who the twins are.

* * *

Soon the Clefairy and the Clefable were back inside the cave and were dancing around the surprisingly resorted Moon Stone once more. "I decided to live here with the Clefairy and the Clefable" Seymour told the trainers, surprising them. "It's been my dream to find the Moon Stone and I hope that some day I will travel to the stars with them…"

The trainers were stunned by Seymour decision but at the same time were happy for him as well. "If you do go into Outer Space be sure to send us a post card" said Brock with a smile before he and the others went back to watching the dance that was taking place.

* * *

The next day, Ash and his friends were bidding Seymour, Miguel, the Clefairy and the Clefable farewell. "So long Seymour! Goodbye Clefairy! See you later Miguel!"

"Farewell Ash! You too Pikachu!" Seymour yelled back to the others. "Thank you all and if you're lucky, we might meet again someday!"

"Do you really think that Clefairy really came from outer space?" wondered the male Ketchum, still thinking about what Seymour told them earlier as they made their way towards the next city.

"I'm not sure…" replied Anna with a shrug. "It's possible that they did…. Hey look at that sign! It says that it leads to Cerulean City and it's not that far either!"

Pikachu's eyes widened in surprise saw that a very familiar Clefairy was coming towards them or more specifically Anna. "What is it?" she asked, shocked that the Clefairy managed to somehow follow them all the way from Mt. Moon before it gave her the stone she was holding earlier. "Is this for me?" her answer was a nod of her head before gesturing for her to get closer. Anna was confused by this and did so as the Fairy Pokemon began whispering something into her ear. "Are you sure you want to go through with it?" Again, the Clefairy nodded.

"What's wrong Anna?" asked Ash.

"Apparently this Clefairy wants to go with us on our journey…" answered Anna with a smile on her face while showing him and Brock the stone she was given. "Plus she gave me something as thanks for saving her from Team Rocket earlier."

"That's amazing… Still…" began the raven-haired boy, still confused about Clefairy's decision of joining them but was glad that they were having a new companion. "You know what? I think you should take Clefairy, after all you did befriend with her…"

"Oh thank you Ash!" Anna happily hugged her brother then after a few seconds she let go and allowed Clefairy to join her Team, capturing the Normal-Type in a Pokeball she took out of her bag.

Brock smiled at this then noticed something that was on the sign under the red arrow that pointed in the direction of Cerulean City. "There's something else you should see…"

"Really? What is it?" wondered Ash, though he wasn't going to like what he was about to read as the words that were under the arrow said… _Gary was here! Ash is a loser!_ "What the… a loser? Me? Why that Gary… I'll show him!" He soon ran off towards Cerulean City with Anna, Brock and Pikachu quickly trying to catch up with him.

A/Ns: Oh thank god, I finally completed this blasted chapter and it took me a long time to do so due to writer's block on my part. Hopefully getting the next chapter (which will of course have our favorite Water Pokemon trainer's first appearance) done won't take so damn long a time and I apologize for any error in this one also this will actually not be the last Ash and co will see of Seymour.


	7. The Tomboyish Mermaid of Cerulean City

Disclaimer: I do not own the plot in the Pokemon saga, if I did then there would have been things done better in the anime and some of the important stuff from the games would be in it.

Pokemon: Rise of Heroes

The Tomboyish Mermaid of Cerulean City

By EmperorDraco7

Ash and co were continuing their trek towards Cerulean City so that Ash and Anna can compete to win their second Pokemon League badges, fortunately there was no going to be clear sailing from here after having previously fought against members of the Team Rocket Organization at Mt. Moon. Though Ash was determined to find out who the Cerulean Gym Leader is and planning out a few strategies that would help, Anna was having other thoughts…. Mostly about the mysterious Crimson Fox and who he really is as well as if they will be seeing more of him in the future.

"Anna…" began Ash, having noticed the strange expression on his twin sister's face and felt concerned. "Are you feeling okay…"

"I'm fine; I've just had something on my mind lately since we left Mt. Moon."

"Oh?" wondered the raven-haired trainer, glancing at the brunette next to him while being slightly confused by what she meant. "What are you thinking about?"

"Just a few things…." She told him with a small sigh, though it would help to tell him what was bothering her so she can let it all out. "It's about the Crimson Fox…. I am a bit curious about who he really is, plus did you see that Ninetales he had with him? She looked pretty powerful, much stronger than our Pokemon…." She then clenched her fists as she thought of what she was going to say next. "Then there's Team Rocket, we were lucky to have been able to deal with them at Mt. Moon but I'm worried that we might end up on their list of enemies to take out."

"Anna, don't worry about it…" Ash tried to reassure the girl, hoping that it will cheer her up a bit even if it was little by little. "Besides, I don't we would be important enough for Team Rocket to even go after and its not like any of the members from Mt. Moon would even let their leader know as they might already be in jail by now."

"I hope you're right, especially since we're almost at Cerulean City too…" said the female Ketchum before taking notice towards something up ahead. "What is that?"

"Huh?" he asked in surprise as he, Pikachu and Brock turned to the direction that she was currently looking at though they couldn't tell what it was at first, when they got closer…. They were amazed to see that it was two Black Belts sparing with each other nearby with one throwing punches and the other was kicking. "Excuse me!"

The two Black Belts stopped their sparing match as they saw Ash, Anna and Brock approaching them and they were not happy at all when showed up. "Who are you?" snapped one of the Black Belts with a scowl. "Why are you interrupting our training? State your business!"

"I'm sorry," answered Ash, trying to be as apologetic as possible. "I'm Ash Ketchum from Pallet Town and with me are my twin sister Anna Ketchum and our friend Brock from Pewter City… We're Pokémon Trainers and we were on our way to Cerulean City when we noticed you guys."

"Wait, you three are Pokémon Trainers?" asked the two Black Belts to which the 3 nodded their heads to confirm. "Well this is your lucky day because the both of us happen to be Move Tutors." explained the Black Belt cracking his knuckles while grinning.

"Move Tutors?" wondered Anna, slightly confused by this revelation though she didn't bother with asking about it. "Meaning you can teach us something right?"

"Of course" replied the Black Belt performing a roundhouse kick. "I can teach your Pokémon the Powerful Mega Kick attack while my brother can teach one the Mega Punch! However, choose wisely as you can only choose one to learn either of those attacks."

'_I want to learn Mega Kick_!' exclaimed Pikachu with enthusiasm as he looked to Ash with sparkles in his eyes.

"You want to learn one of those attacks Pikachu?" Ash asked Pikachu to which the Electric-Type gave an excited nod. "Which one?" The raven-haired trainer saw his Pokemon pointing to the kicking Black Belt as he wanted to learn Mega Kick.

Anna produced the Pokéball of her starter Pokémon Wartortle and let her out as she was thinking for a moment on which attack the Turtle Pokemon should learn. "Hey Wartortle, do you want to learn a new attack?" she asked her Water-Type and her answer was a nod to the Brunette's question while she pointed to the Black Belt who was practicing his punches. "So you want to learn Mega Punch, huh?" she asked again with Wartortle giving her another nod as she wanted to learn Mega Punch.

Ash approached the Black Belt brother who was an expert with his feet and said. "My Pikachu wants to learn Mega Kick from you."

"My Wartortle wants to learn Mega Punch from you," Anna said to the other Black Belt with a light smile on her face.

"Excellent!" said both Black Belts as they began teaching Pikachu and Wartortle the respective attacks. After a while, the brothers were finished and both Wartortle and Pikachu certainly had a grin on each of their faces.

"How was it Pikachu?" Ash asked his small yellow mouse Pokémon.

Pikachu showed him by using his new Mega Kick on a medium sized rock smashing it into smaller pieces. '_How do you like it_?' asked the Electric-Type.

"Wow, that's pretty good Pikachu," said Ash as he whistled in amazement.

Anna was also amazed at the power of Pikachu's Mega Kick was well and looked to her Wartortle then showed off her Mega Punch on another rock that split in two and revealed an upset Geodude that had been woken up from its nap. The Geodude then rolled towards Wartortle. "Quick Wartortle dodge that Rollout use Water Gun!" ordered Anna with Wartortle shooting water at Geodude as it was turning around to roll at the Turtle Pokémon even faster. The Rock/Ground-Type then spun out of control and went face first into another rock.

'_That__'__s gonna leave a mark_,' said Anna's Wartortle as she grimaced at the Geodude that was stuck to the rock.

"Use those moves wisely," the Black Belt brothers told Ash and Anna as twins gave the two brothers a slight nod and continue on their way to Cerulean City.

* * *

In Cerulean City much of the people had gone to sleep except for a trio of dastardly crooks from Team Rocket's finest agents. "Okay make sure you grab those hose extensions," whispered Jessie.

"Grab some dental floss, we're out of dental floss," added James as Jessie sighed as she reached for some dental floss for James and put it in a sack full of other stolen items.

"Alright, you two, let's get this machine and hurry up before the cops get here," said Meowth as he was trying to get his teammates to hurry up before the police arrived. Jessie and James got to the machine and started carrying it to the entrance they and escaped without a hitch and not even an alarm going off. The store owner would be in for shock when they saw they were robbed. The dastardly trio certainly had plan with the vacuum machine they stole and was going to put to use for their plot. Once the trio got out of the shop they went over their plan just for good measure before stashing it away.

"Alright, so we're going to steal the Water Pokémon from the Cerulean City Gym," began Meowth as he started off.

"We blow a hole into the side of the gym and make our entrance," added James, "motto and all."

"Then we'll bring in the vacuum machine suck out all the water and Water Pokémon leaving only the Water Pokémon in the machine," continued Jessie. "Once we have them all, we'll make our escape and give 'em all to the boss."

"And we better make sure that get twerp's Pikachu while we're at it," finished Meowth. Jessie and James gave a slight nod of agreement, unaware someone and a large Flying-Type Pokemon with her were watching from the shadows.

After stowing the vacuum machine in what they thought was a safe place, Team Rocket got into their sleeping bags for the night. After they fell asleep, two shadowy figures approached the machine and began fiddling with it. One shadow in the shape of large Flying-Type from earlier kept watch and made sure that Jessie, James and Meowth were still asleep. Much to their luck the dastardly trio were deep in their sleep you could actually hear them talk in their sleep. "Hey Boss, we finally got Pikachu for you," The Scratch Cat said peacefully in his sleep. "Will we get a promotion for finally capturing this troublesome Pikachu?"

"Yay, we got a promotion," Jessie said softly. "I can buy that house in the hills I wanted to get."

"No Mommy, Daddy, don't make me marry Jessiebel," James muttered in his sleep, having a nightmare of some sort as he tossed and turned in his sleeping bag.

The shadowy figures took one last look at Jessie, James and Meowth and their handy work. "Come my friend, our work is done," the shadowy figure whispered to her Pokémon companion as they tip toed away from Team Rocket.

* * *

The next day, Ash, Anna and Brock were heading towards Cerulean City, a beautiful city lying on the side of Mt. Moon, with a pristine river flowing beside it. Ash and his Pikachu were marching ahead of the group, eager to get there in order to challenge the Gym Leader and get their second Pokemon League Badge.

"Alright, here we are!" Ash cheered. "Cerulean City… man, I can't wait to get my next badge! Brock, do you know anything about the Gym Leader here?"

"I'm curious to know something as well…" Anna stated.

The older boy rubbed his chin. "Well, the Gym Leader in this city is Misty, also known as the Tomboyish Mermaid, and I've heard that her approach to battles is an all-out offense with Water-type Pokemon. Not many trainers can keep up with such a relentless assault."

'_Well, that won't be a problem to me_!'Pikachu squeaked, clenching his right fist in determination.

Ash chuckled. "I know Pikachu! Your Electric-Type attacks should be very useful against Water-Type Pokemon!" he said with a friendly laugh. "And with the new Mega Kick you learned from those two Black Belts, I'm sure we can get an easy victory!"

"I don't have Electric-type Pokemon… but I'm sure my Wartortle can resist Misty's attacks and strike back with the brand new Mega Punch!" Anna stated. "So… I'm sure we have this badge in the bag!"

"You said it Anna!" Ash said as he and his twin sister exchanged a high-five. However Brock wanted to warn the twins about their upcoming match, and remind them not to get too confident.

"It's good that you two are so pumped… but take care not to get a big head about this!" he reminded them with a slight smile. "After all, Misty is not a Gym Leader for nothing, and she has earned her position with her skills as a trainer."

"Okay, we'll keep that in mind! But I'm sure we have a good chance of winning!" Ash said as they approached Cerulean City. They were now walking on a bridge connecting the road coming down from Mt. Moon to the mainland, flanked by wide green fields with several wild Pokemon hopping around. In fact, they were so concentrated on the road ahead of them, that they failed to see someone arriving until he was right behind them…

"Heh… what do you know, we meet again, Ketchum siblings!" a young, arrogant voice greeted Ash and Anna, as Gary Oak came from behind them, hands in his pocket to greet them. "So… already got through Mt. Moon, huh? You sure took your time!"

As Brock regarded the newcomer with curiosity, Ash rolled his eyes as he turned to face his rival. "Gary…" he said annoyingly. "Boy, you just can't help but show up to say how much further you are than me, huh?"

"Well, Ashy-boy, it's not my fault you're such a Slowpoke!" Gary said sarcastically. "By the way, I see that you got yourselves a new friend, huh? Isn't he the Gym Leader of Pewter City?"

"Yes, I am…" Brock said, recognizing the young boy who had challenged him earlier and had defeated him. "I used to be the Gym Leader, in fact… but my real dream was to become a Pokemon breeder, and now that my father has come back to run the Gym, I am free to pursue my own dream."

"Whatever…" shrugged the spiky-haired trainer with a grin on his face. "I already won my second Badge and I was just about to head out to where the next Gym is located when I noticed you guys… In fact, I am hoping to see what Pokemon you caught and how much stronger you've become Ash... unless of course you're afraid to face me…"

"You don't scare me Gary!" snapped Ash, not wanting to standby and hear his rival insult him any further. "You're on! Don't forget, I beat you back at Pallet Town and I can do it again!"

"Ash, are you sure about this?" asked Brock, becoming concerned for his new friend and knew that Gary had most likely gotten stronger since their own battle back at Pewter City not to mention that if he had already won his battle against Misty then the former Pewter Gym leader hoped that Ash knows what he was getting himself into.

"I'll be fine, trust me…" answered the younger male with a look of determination and nodded at Pikachu as he did so. "After what he said, there's no way I'm going to back down now…" Brock was going to say something else but figured that it wouldn't do any good seeing as how Ash can be quite stubborn at times. "Let's get this over with Gary!"

"Don't worry, this will be over sooner than you think loser! Go Spearow!" Gary released his Normal/Flying-Type from its Pokéball and watched as it let out a loud screeching sound at Ash. "Your move!"

Ash remained silent for a few seconds then turned his attention towards his Pikachu before he spoke. "Time we showed Gary that came to win" he told his Electric-Type, seeing his friend jumping into the battlefield.

"Oh my god, he's so cute!" squealed one of Gary's Cheerleaders as they were really excited and started gushing at seeing a cute Pokemon in battle though Gary found it a little annoying but he didn't show it at all.

"Good luck Ash" said Anna, standing next to Brock as the two rivals glared at each other as did their respective Pokemon, so far not an order was made yet and things were starting to become intense.

"Thanks…" Ash told his sister, smiling brightly before turning his attention back towards Gary and said in a serious tone. "Pikachu, use your Thundershock right now!" The Electric-Type's cheeks began to spark as he prepared to his attack though Gary had other plans for his opponent.

"Spearow, take flight and dodge it!" the Tiny Bird flew into the air to avoid being hit by Pikachu's Thundershock attack. "Now dive down and retaliate with Fury Attack!" Spearow fly dived down and began to rapidly peck Pikachu's forehead.

"Pikachu, Quick Attack!" ordered Ash, not wanting to lose this round to Gary as his Electric Mouse ran at top speed, scoring a direct hit on the Spearow. "Now use Iron Tail!" Pikachu's tail began to glow as he swung it straight at the opposing Pokemon. "How do you like that?"

"Don't think you've won yet…" scowled Gary and looked towards his Normal/Flying-Type then said. "Take to the air and use your Aerial Ace attack!" Spearow got back into the air and with great speed, performed a powerful attack which hit its target dead on. "Now use your Peck attack!"

"Pikachu, strike back with Iron Tail again!" Ash told his starter Pokemon. Pikachu squeaked loudly as he stood up from the Aerial Ace attack, and leapt in the air to counter Spearow's swoop. Just as the bird Pokemon was about to hit Pikachu with its sharp beak, Pikachu spun around himself and delivered a crushing blow with his tail lit up, which forced Spearow on the ground! The Normal / Flying Pokemon screeched again, but it was able to climb back up and took flight again.

"Alright, Ashy-boy, I have to admit, you're not half bad…" Gary smirked. "But you haven't seen the last of my Spearow! Now, use Leer!"

Spearow frowned and affixed Pikachu with a sharp stare that managed to stop the Electric-Type on his tracks for a split second… and soon after, Gary came up with a new order. "Well done, Spearow! And now… use Fury Attack again!"

Spearow dived down and began pecking furiously at Pikachu, forcing the electric mouse on the defensive… but somehow, the Leer attack seemed to have weakened his defensive skill, and he was hit several times and staggered. Pikachu swayed dangerously, but he managed to stay on his feet.

"Ouch… that must have hurt!" Anna commented. "It seems to me that Pikachu received a lot more damage from this Fury Attack than from the previous one… don't you think so as well, Brock?"

"That's because of the Leer attack." Brock explained, being the most experienced trainer of the three. "Leer does not inflict direct damage, but weaken the target's defense, leaving it more vulnerable to whatever physical attack comes after. Fury Attack, in particular, becomes particularly dangerous after a Leer, as it hits multiple times… and each hit does more damage."

"I see…" Anna said while worrying. "I just hope Ash and Pikachu can turn this around…"

Spearow was soaring again and was getting ready for another attack… but Ash was not going to let his rival get the upper hand so easily! "Alright then… Pikachu, try a Quick Attack… and then, finish things with Thundershock!"

'_Got it_!' Pikachu squeaked as he quickly dashed towards Spearow. He leapt up and struck the bird Pokemon with a well-aimed blow, sending Gary's Pokemon reeling… and just as Spearow seemed to be about to recover, Pikachu charged up his cheeks and unleashed a powerful Thundershock attack that struck Spearow head-on! Gary gritted his teeth as his Normal/Flying type was shocked, and then fell to the ground, its feathers matted and blackened. His Spearow was down for the count, and Pikachu breathed a sigh of relief and turned to his trainer, doing a victory sign with his fingers.

'_See that, Ash? I did it!_' Pikachu squeaked.

"Yeah! I knew you could do it, buddy!" Ash cheered, while Anna clapped loudly from the sidelines, and Brock nodded in approval. Pikachu had proven once again to be a powerful fighter.

_Damn…_ Gary recalled Spearow and then switched Pokéballs. "You haven't won this battle yet, because now comes round two!" He released from the ball a Pokemon in which Ash and Anna were unfamiliar with.

Ash frowned at this and looked at his Pokédex.

_Abra, the Psi Pokemon. Abra sleeps 18 hours a day. If it senses danger, it will teleport to safety even as it sleeps._

"That Pokemon is not to be underestimated." Brock commented, having had some experience with the Psychic-type himself. "It can teleport faster than most opponents can attack, and if its trainer is halfway competent, it can learn some pretty powerful Psychic-type attacks. If Gary knows what he's doing, Ash and Pikachu are in for a tough fight."

Anna frowned, wishing her brother good luck… and just then, Ash decided to take the initiative and attack first. "Well, I'm not going to just stand here like an idiot and let that Abra teleport around! Pikachu, stop it with a Thunder Wave!"

'_Okay_!'" Pikachu charged up for a moment, and then shot out a small wave of electricity that sped towards Abra, in an attempt to paralyze the speedy Psychic-type Pokemon… but Gary seemed to have predicted the move, and simply smiled as he gave the order to his Pokemon.

"Abra… use Teleport, now!"

As soon as Gary spoke, Abra simply vanished from the place it was standing on, and the Thunder Wave hit nothing but air before dissipating. With a surprised squeak, Pikachu stood up and turned around, trying to see where the opponent had gone… and an invisible blast of psychic energy hit him in the back, pushing him to the ground! Abra had simply reappeared behind him and used an attack Gary had recently taught it.

"Tch, tch…" Gary chided Ash. "You didn't think you were the only one to know about TMs, right, Ashy-boy? This one I taught my Abra happens to be Psywave, a Psychic-type attack that ignores any resistance! Let's see how you and your Pikachu keep up with me now!"

"Don't think we'll give up so easily!" Ash exclaimed. "Pikachu, are you okay? Can you fight still?"

The electric mouse stood ready and nodded, his cheek crackling with electricity in order to show his trainer that he meant business like usual. He was ready for another fight…

"Okay, Pikachu… try to use a Tail Whip attack against it!" Ash ordered, hoping to weaken the enemy's defense enough to bring him down with a single hit. However, as Pikachu raised his thunder-shaped tail, Abra teleported again, and Pikachu was left to hit nothing but thin air.

'_It's no use, Ash! He's too fast!'_ Pikachu squeaked, before getting hit by another, more powerful Psywave that brought him to his knees. Ash gasped when he saw that Pikachu was getting weaker, and that he would have to think fast if he wanted to avoid him fainting.

Hold on a second…

Sure, Ash thought, almost smacking himself in the head in frustration. Of course it was not going well… Abra was simply too fast for his Pokemon to keep up with it teleporting all over the place! Still, there was one thing Ash could possibly do to defeat this advantage…

"Very well, Pikachu… use Quick Attack, now!" Ash ordered. Pikachu complied by rapidly charging at Abra and was able to get a direct hit on him right before he could teleport, causing critical damage as the Psychic-Type landed on his back. "Yes, and that did some major damage," he spoke with enthusiasm though it was short lived when he saw Abra starting to glow.

"That can't be good," said Anna with a frown on her face as she watched Abra evolving.

"It's evolving," Brock added in astonishment.

A few minute later Abra finished evolving into a new Pokémon and he was now bigger as well as more powerful than before. "Kadabra!" said the recently evolved Pokémon.

"What is that?" asked Ash as he whipped out his Pokédex and aimed it at the new Pokémon.

_Kadabra, the Psi Pokemon. The evolved form of Abra, many odd things happen if this Pokemon is close by. For example, it makes clocks run backwards._

"Well would you look at that?" grinned Gary as he felt that he was high and mighty. "Let's see how well that little runt rodent of yours fairs against my mighty Kadabra."

Pikachu took offense to that and was ready to do battle against Kadabra despite having had a brief problem against the opposing Pokemon earlier as an Abra. Ash looked at his Electric-Type with concern as he was panting heavily and decided that his starter needed to rest.

"Pikachu, come back," Ash ordered his tired and worn out Pokémon. Pikachu looked at Ash in disbelief that he would ask him to come back. "I know you want to fight against Kadabra, but you look tired and you need to rest. Come on back buddy."

'_Okay Ash_, _if you say so_,' said Pikachu as he relented and returned to Ash's side. The raven-haired trained had to think for a moment as Kadabra looked pretty powerful and he assumed that it doesn't have the limitations that it previously had before.

"Go Butterfree!" said Ash as he threw his next Pokéball, releasing his Bug/Flying-Type into the battle to take on the spiky-haired trainer's Pokemon.

Gary looked at Ash's Butterfree and laughed at him while speaking in a mocking tone. "That's not a Pokémon, its a little girl's doll!"

Butterfree took offense to Gary's insult and had a vein pop on his head though Ash glanced at his Pokemon then calmly said. "Come on Butterfree, let's show Gary that you're not a little girl's doll."

'_Yeah_,' agreed Butterfree as he gave a slight nod of agreement before turning his attention back towards Kadabra, ready to battle against the Psychic-Type.

"Kadabra, use Kinesis on girl's doll," Gary ordered Kadabra.

"Dodge it Butterfree and use Bug Bite," countered Ash. Butterfree dodged Kadabra's Kinesis attack was able to get in close and take a bite out of Kadabra and the Oran Berry he was holding. Kadabra was not happy that Butterfree ate his Oran Berry and swung a fist at Butterfree in which dodging and giggled at Kadabra.

"We'll show you," snarled Gary. "Kadabra, use Confusion!" Kadabra unleashed Psychic energy on Butterfree. Butterfree was struck by the Confusion attack but managed to get back up and then whipped up a glowing gust of silver wind that struck Kadabra hard and knocked him out in one blow.

"Way to go bro, I didn't know that Butterfree learned Silver Wind" Anna said as she saw Kadabra fall in defeat. "Keep it up."

"Alright, let's see you take this one down," Gary scowled at Ash while throwing his next Pokéball. "Go Rattata!"

"You ready for round two Butterfree?" Ash asked his companion with a determined look on his face. Butterfree gave a slight nod as he was ready to keep proving that he wasn't a girl's doll, but a Pokémon that could hold his own in battle.

"But I gotta ask you something Butterfree," Ash said to Butterfree, slightly curious on how he was able to use the Silver Wind attack earlier in the battle with Kadabra. "Where did you learn that attack?"

'_A nice stranger taught it to me before we got to Cerulean City_,' answered Butterfree. '_She told me that I_'_d need for the next battle I would be in_.'

"I see," replied Ash. "Well we'll have to thank them whenever we see them."

"Are done yet?" Gary asked as he was getting angry with Ash. "You got lucky against Kadabra, but you won't be lucky a second time."

"Bring it on Gary," challenged Ash. "Butterfree, use Silver Wind again."

"That won't help you Ketchum," Gary said with a smirk on his face. "Rattata, use Sucker Punch on that girl's doll." Rattata managed to get the first shot on Butterfree as it did critical damage on Butterfree.

"Butterfree!" exclaimed Ash as Butterfree struggled to get back up.

"Now finish it off with Bite," ordered Gary.

"Butterfree, use Stun Spore," countered Ash as Butterfree managed to get up and release powder that paralyzed Gary's Rattata.

"Rattata, get up!" ordered Gary as Rattata struggled to get up but glowed as he got up.

"Uh oh, that's not good," Anna gritted her teeth as she saw Rattata glowing. "Rattata has the Guts ability and Ash just helped Gary secure a win for his Rattata."

"Rattata, use Tackle," commanded Gary. Rattata then charged at Butterfree and tackled him down onto the ground.

"Looks like Butterfree's down for the count," observed Brock with Ash recalling his fallen Butterfly Pokemon as he then thought of who else to send out to face his rival as Pikachu was most likely still exhausted from having fought both Spearow and Kadabra.

"Oh yeah," agreed Anna.

"You've got a Rattata," began Ash, "so do I. Go Rattata, use Rock Smash on Gary's Rattata."

Ash's Rattata came out of his Pokéball and went straight to attacking Gary's Rattata. Gary's Rattata was struck hard and collided with Gary's midsection.

"Ouch, that's gotta hurt," said Anna as she grimaced at Gary getting hit by his own Rattata though the attack was Super-Effective, the opposing Rat and his trainer were able to get back up.

"Not bad, though you have to play better than that!" yelled Gary then glanced at his Normal-Type Pokemon. "Let's see how you do against a Quick Attack!" The purple Rat charged at top speed towards Ash's Rattata.

"Counter with your own Quick Attack!" he commanded as his Rattata went head-on against the other one with both of them being evenly matched when their attacks collided with one another.

"Rattata, Hyper Fang!" Gary tried to command his Rattata to do some heavy damage to Ash's but saw that his Normal-Type was unable to move due to having been paralyzed earlier which hinders his speed as well. "Dammit…"

"Well, that just means I can counter with my own attack!" Ash said with a confident smile. "Now, Rattata… use Tail Whip, and then strike back with your own Quick Attack!"

Ash's Rattata nodded. "_Sure thing!_" he squeaked, using his long tail to strike at the opposing Rattata. Then, he dashed at the enemy Pokemon at blinding speed and hit him head-on, sending Gary's Rattata reeling… and after a little bit of swaying, Gary's Pokemon fell and his eyes turned into spirals, showing that it was too exhausted to go on. Gary winced and snapped his fingers in frustration.

"Alright, Rattata.. you did it!" Ash cheered, as Anna clapped her hands from the sidelines.

Gary sighed as he recalled his defeated Rattata in the Pokéball. "Hmph… I admit that I underestimated you, Ketchum… you actually did your training." he admitted, before casting a glance at his Pokemon's Pokéball and nodding to it. "Don't worry, Rattata, you did a good job even if you lost. Okay, Ashy-boy, if that's how you put, no more Mr. Nice Guy. Squirtle, come out!"

Much to the Ketchum siblings' surprise, from Gary's next Pokéball came out a Squirtle just like Anna used to, and it landed in front of Ash's Rattata as he called out his name. "What? I didn't know Gary had a Squirtle… this is going to be harder than I thought…" Ash murmured to himself.

"_Yeah… I had no idea myself…_" Pikachu answered. For a moment, Ash thought about sending Pikachu out once again, because of the Electric-type's clear advantage against the Water-type… but he knew that Pikachu was quite tired from his earlier battle, and decided to stick to Rattata.

"Okay, let's go though this again… Rattata, use Tail Whip, and then Quick Attack!" Ash called out to his Rat Pokemon, who quickly struck Squirtle with his tail and caused him to drop his guard for a few moments. However, Gary was not going to fall for the same tactic twice.

"Squirtle, use Withdraw!" Ash's rival ordered. Squirtle managed to retreat his head and his limbs into his tough shell just as Ash's Rattata dashed towards him. The Rat Pokemon hit his opponent on his carapace, bouncing off of it without inflicting serious damage, and Gary smirked cockily as he seized his chance to turn the battle around. "Very good, Squirtle… and now, strike back with Water Gun!"

"_Right away!_" the Water-type answered. Squirtle took a deep breath and shot out an high-pressure stream of water, hitting Ash's Rattata and pushing him back for a good distance. The Rat Pokemon landed on his back and shook his head to clear it, but Gary was already trying to get his Squirtle to attack again!

"Ouch… this isn't looking good…" Anna said with a wince.

"Very good job, Squirtle! Now… use Tackle!" Gary ordered, and the turtle Pokemon charged against Ash's Rattata, hitting him with his shoulder and making him stagger. However, Rattata was not done yet, and Ash decided to go for broke and try an all-out attack.

"Okay, Rattata! Use Rock Smash again… and then, Hyper Fang!" Ash ordered. The Rat Pokemon charged again, striking Squirtle in the stomach with his brand new Fighting-type attack and causing a few cracks to appear on his shell… and then struck with a vicious bite! Squirtle winced and staggered backwards for a while… but he quickly recovered as Gary ordered him to use his strongest attack.

"Let's wrap this up! Bubblebeam!" Gary said. Squirtle smirked and shot out a barrage of colorful bubbles that rushed at high speed towards Rattata and quickly overwhelmed him, bursting with great power upon his body and tossing him to the ground, where it remained stunned. Ash winced, seeing that his Rattata was down for the count.

"Man, that attack was really strong… Gary must have used a TM or something to have his Squirtle learn it…" he said to himself as he recalled his defeated Rattata. He smiled and praised Rattata for the valiant effort, then tried to think about how to fight Squirtle, not sure whether to use Pikachu or send out another Pokemon… However, he took out a Pokéball and sent out his Mankey, who was ready for the battle. "Alright, let's see if your Squirtle can handle this…. Mankey, use Karate Chop!"

'_Right_!' Mankey performed a powerful Karate Chop aimed towards Squirtle though the brown-haired male trainer had other plans and nodded to his Water-Type Pokemon.

"Squirtle, defend with Withdraw!" The Tiny Turtle hide into his shell and withstood the attack just as Mankey landed his hit. "Now counter with your Water Gun attack!"

Squirtle complied shot burst of water at Mankey.

"Dodge it Mankey and use Low Kick!" countered Ash as Mankey complied by sidestepping Squirtle's Water Gun at the last second and went in for a low kick to Squirtle's midsection.

"Not bad little bro," said Anna as she and Brock watched the Low Kick do critical damage to Squirtle and knocked him into a position where he couldn't fight back. Gary gritted his teeth as saw that his Squirtle wasn't in position to fight back and recalled him.

"Now Gary must be down to his last Pokémon," observed Anna as Gary reached for his last Pokéball.

"Alright Eevee, let's go!" Gary said, tossing his final Pokéball and revealing his Starter against his opponent.

"He's so cute!" squealed Anna as she saw the little brown and white Pokémon though she had almost forgotten that she herself went up against him back at Route 22 outside of Viridian City. Ash ignored Anna's squealing and focused on the battle. He got Gary down to his last Pokémon and he was going to end it by defeating Ash.

"Eevee use Quick Attack!" Gary ordered his last Pokémon as it dashed at Mankey striking it at point blank range.

"Oh that's gotta hurt," commented Brock as Mankey was thrown back by the Quick Attack from Eevee.

"Mankey, use Low Kick on Eevee," countered Ash as Mankey complied by sending a powerful low kick to Eevee while knowing that Fighting-Type attacks will be really helpful against Norman-Type Pokemon though Gary had other plans.

"Dodge it Eevee and use Sand-Attack!" Eevee then sidestepped the Low Kick and flung sand at Mankey blinding him. "Now use Tackle while he's blinded!" The Norman-Type charged in and used a Tackle attack that effectively took out Mankey.

"Well, that's it for Mankey," said Brock as Ash recalled his fallen Pokémon. Anna gave a nod of agreement as Ash reached for his next Pokéball.

"Go Pidgeotto!" Ash said, throwing his Pokéball and releasing the Pokémon he had evolved from the Pidgey he previously caught.

"Impressive Ash," grinned Gary while watching the Normal/Flying-Type Pokémon before him. "You must've caught him as a Pidgey then evolved him. But he's still no match. Eevee, use Sand-Attack right now!"

"That won't work twice," said Ash. "Pidgeotto, use your own Sand Attack!" Both Pokémon used their Sand Attack and were both hit by the blinding sand and while tried to get the sand out of his eyes, it didn't seem to affect Pidgeotto in anyway for some reason. "Huh? How come Pidgeotto wasn't blinded by Eevee?"

"Pidgeotto has the Keen Eye ability…" explained Brock, realizing why Ash's Bird Pokemon shrugged off the Sand-Attack from Eevee. "A Pokemon with this ability won't have their accuracy lowered in battle.

"Wow…" Ash was amazed by this and never knew that Pidgeotto had that ability then turned to Gary while grinning, knowing that it could help him to win after all.

"Eevee, use Tackle," Gary ordered his small little Pokémon. Eevee then charged towards the larger flying Pokémon; however, the missed as Eevee was still temporarily blinded from Pidgeotto's Sand Attack.

"Alright Pidgeotto use Gust on Eevee," Ash said to Pidgeotto, who whipped up a fierce wind gust at Eevee, however neither noticed that the spiky-haired male was grinning at this.

"Use Double Team!" Ash and Pidgeotto were shocked as Eevee split into several duplicates of himself and the Gust Attack hit one of the copies, causing it to disappear. "Now use Quick Attack!" The Normal-Type complied by gaining speed, rapidly striking Pidgeotto and doing significant damage on his opponent.

"Pidgeotto, use Tackle now!" Ash ordered, witnessing Pidgeotto flying towards Eevee and hoping to get a quick and hard hit on him.

"Eevee, dodge it and use Quick Attack again!" countered Gary with the little Pokémon doing as he was told and hit Pidgeotto once again, causing the Normal/Flying-Type to faint.

"Well, now they're down to their last Pokémon each," Anna winced at this and saw her brother recalling his Pokémon, disappointed that Gary had outsmarted him with Eevee.

"Alright Pikachu, it's all up to you now little buddy."

'_Leave it to me_,' Pikachu said with enthusiasm and took a battle stance

"So you're down to your last Pokémon too," assumed Gary with a grin on his face. "Time to see who is the better trainer. Eevee use Quick Attack."

"Pikachu, use Thundershock, quick!" countered Ash. Pikachu tried to use his Thundershock attack, but was hit by a quick Eevee who was unaware that he had a secret weapon. As Eevee struck the Electric-Type, electrical energy then transferred to the Normal-Type which caused quite a shocking surprise for Gary.

"What the?" asked a shocked Gary as his jaw was open in disbelief.

"Guess you forgot that Pokémon have special abilities," Anna said to Gary. "Pikachu's special ability is Static, which causes paralysis on contact."

Gary gritted his teeth as he forgot about Pikachu's Static ability as his Eevee was wobbly and struggling to stay up. Pikachu then used his Thundershock attack as commanded by Ash and the electric energy flew straight and hit Eevee as it was struggling to stand up. Eevee let out a shriek of pain and then fainted from having to face three Pokémon in a row.

"Eevee is unable to battle!" announced Brock. "Which means that the victory goes to Ash and Pikachu."

"Way to go buddy!" exclaimed Ash. "I knew you could do it."

'_I knew I could it too_,' replied a very happy Pikachu.

Gary sighed as he recalled his Eevee to his Pokéball, he then pulled two devices and said, "Here, those are called Fame Checkers. They help you see what other people have said about some top celebrities around the areas you travel to."

"Thanks Gary," said Ash as he received his Fame Checker.

"Thank you," Anna said with a look of surprise on her face while she took her Fame Checker from Gary.

"Well, I'm off to go to the next town," Gary said as walked off with his cheerleaders, knowing that he has a lot to accomplish in his own journey and didn't need any distractions. "Smell you Ketchum losers later."

Anna had a vein pop on her forehead as she said, "What a sore loser."

"You're not kidding," agreed Ash. "Well, I need to get my Pokémon healed before going to the Cerulean Gym."

* * *

While at the Pokemon Center getting Ash's Pokemon healed, the raven-haired trainer decided to call his mom so he and Anna can thank her for the Running Shoes that Oak's Aide delivered to them earlier. "Hi mom," he said with a light smile on his face. "What's up?"

"Hello honey" smiled Delia, happy that her son took the time to call her. "I'm alright; I heard from Professor Oak that the two of you got the Running Shoes I sent plus Daisy's been keeping me company."

"We did, we also wanted to thank you for sending them to use" Anna told the older woman, grateful for the gift from earlier. "By the way, we already won our first Gym Badges and the Gym Leader Brock joined us on our journey…" Then she realized something. "Daisy's with you right now?"

"She is…" came a familiar voice as Daisy Oak soon appeared next to Delia and said with her left hand running through her brown hair. "So where are you guys at right now?"

Ash was a bit surprised that Daisy of all people was at his house though he shook it off before answering. "Right now we're at Cerulean City where the second Gym is located and we already ran into your brother."

"Oh really?" wondered Daisy in surprise, though she figured that it would make sense as Gary as well as David and Rena were already ahead of the Ketchum twins on their journey from what she heard from her Grandfather. "Where's my kid brother now?"

"He's already long gone as he won his second badge before us then battled against Ash not long afterwards" explained Anna with a scowl. "Man, Gary doesn't like losing not even to my brother though we each got a Fame Checker from him out of that."

"Oh yeah, there's something else we need to know…" began Ash, having almost forgotten about something he and the others had to deal with while they were at Mt. Moon on the way to this city. "We ran into a group of Pokemon thieves known as Team Rocket and I was wondering if you or mom know anything about them that we don't know about. We were previously told about who they were from Professor Oak's Aide but still, there has to be more to them than just what they intend to do…"

"Team Rocket?" Daisy repeated, thinking of what she had heard about them. "Yes, I did hear that there was this criminal organization that uses Pokemon for their own gain. They also engage in smuggling and poaching, and they've made quite a rep for themselves in a relatively short time. I heard they are quite ruthless and they have strong trainers on their side, so you better be careful if you're going to deal with them. Tell my brother about that, next time you meet him."

"Gotcha, Daisy! Thanks for the heads-up!" Anna thanked her. "Well… guess we'd better get going. We'd like to find out as much as we can about Cerulean City's Gym Leader before we challenge her."

"I know you will do great!" Delia answered proudly. "Well, children… best of luck to you, and see you soon!"

"Thanks, Mom!" Ash answered. "Don't worry, we'll do well! See you soon, Daisy!"

"We love you too!" Anna concluded, waving at Delia and Daisy as the communication ended. The screen went blank, and the Ketchum siblings turned to Nurse Joy's desk to see whether she was done with resting their Pokemon.

"It's okay, kids!" Brock, standing near the desk, said as Ash and Anna came closer. "Your Pokemon are in shape now, you can come and collect them!"

"Thank you, Nurse Joy… we really appreciate them!" Ash said as the pink-haired girl handed their Pokéballs back to him and his sister.

"It's no problem at all!" Joy answered with a small smile. "After all, it is my job to look after Pokemon who are entrusted to my care. And I must say, your Pokemon really look like they're being cared for very well!"

"Well, we try to do our best for them!" Anna answered. "By the way, Nurse Joy… how is it that you look so much like the Nurses Joy working in Viridian and Pewter City? You don't happen to be related to them, do you?"

Nurse Joy giggled briefly. "As it stands, yes, they're actually my cousins!" she answered. "Working as a Pokemon nurse is something that runs in the family!"

Brock put on his best Casanova impression, getting close to Nurse Joy and gently holding her hand. "Oooh, that's very interesting to know!" he said, smiling gently. "Well, then… if that is the case, how about we get to know each other a little better and talk about our families? I'm sure we both have interesting stories to exchange…"

"Brock, please." Anna said, holding the Rock-type expert by the back of his shirt and dragging him away from the surprised Joy. "You don't want to scare her off, do you?"

"Ugh… why does it always have to be this way?" the dark-skinned teenager murmured as he was dragged away. Ash sweat dropped and rubbed the back of his head in embarrassment as he took Pikachu in his arms.

"Er… I apologize for my friend, Nurse Joy…" the raven-haired boy told her. "Sometimes, he gets a little over-excited when it comes to girls… he's not a bad guy, actually!"

Nurse Joy didn't seem to mind Brock's behavior. "Well… it's no big deal, really! By the way, since you and your sister are professional trainers, I'm sure you've come all the way here to challenge the Gym Leader of this town."

"Actually, yes, that's the reason why we're here." Ash answered. Pikachu nodded as well, while Anna came back to the desk. "And by the way, we also have a Fame Checker with us… maybe it can tell us more about the Gym Leader…"

Ash grabbed the Fame Checker he had gotten from Gary and, by pressing a few buttons, got to the chapter about the Cerulean City Gym Leader before activating it. "_Cerulean City Gym Leader – Misty, the Tomboyish Mermaid. Specialized in Water-types._" The electronic device simply said in a monotone voice. Ash and Anna were a little disappointed that it didn't say much more.

"The Fame Checker must be filled by recording what other people say about the person in question, actually." Nurse Joy explained, having already seen how the device worked. "As you get to learn more about them, the Fame Checker automatically updates, and you can consult it whenever you want."

"Oh… I see! Thanks for telling us that, Nurse Joy!" Ash thanked. "So… anyway, do you happen to know anything about this Misty girl?"

Joy stood silent for a short while before answering. "Well… I can't say the Cerulean City Gym is in, excuse the pun, good waters now. It seems that position of Gym Leader was to go to one of Misty's older sisters, but they all refused… so now the position went to the youngest of the four sisters… which is, as you may have guessed, Misty. And she isn't exactly thrilled about it…"

"Really?" Anna asked incredulously. "This is quite strange… how is it that her sisters refused to be the Gym Leaders? You'd think they would be more excited about being Gym Leaders… it is a prestigious position, after all."

Joy shrugged. "I have no idea myself… you should ask the Sensational Sisters themselves… that's how they call themselves." She answered.

Ash, Pikachu, Anna and Brock nodded curiously, asking themselves what the deal with the Cerulean Gym was…

* * *

After getting out of the Pokemon Center, Ash and his team decided to split up for a while: while he and Pikachu went to take a look at the Cerulean Gym and see what the deal was, Anna and Brock would take a stroll through the city itself, looking for information. After setting up a rendezvous at the Pokemon center for later in the afternoon, the two sibling bid good luck to each other, as Anna and Brock began looking through the city for someone that could help them.

"Hmm… say, Brock, where do you think we should start looking, first?" Anna asked, while the two walked beside the Pokemon Market, taking a good look at the nearby shops. She was a little surprised to see that, right beside the Pokemon market, there was a shop selling bicycles, which looked like they were the latest and fastest models available. "Hmm, that's one nice-looking bike shop! If only I had the money to buy one of them… sadly, I heard they cost a bundle!"

"Yeah, I see what you mean…" Brock answered, looking at the few people going back and forth from the shop. However, he was not looking at the bicycles, and seemed to be more interested in the customers… especially a tomboyish-looking girl about one year older than Ash or Anna, who was standing right in front of the shop with a pensive look on her face, admiring the brand new bicycles. She had fiery red hair tied in a side ponytail, and was wearing a yellow tank top with blue-green shorts held by a pair of red suspenders, and a pair of red trainers without socks. She seemed to be rather annoyed about something, and Brock thought she looked somewhat familiar… "Hmm… hold on a second, Anna, I think we've found her!"

Anna blinked curiously. "Her? What do you mean?"

"Misty, the Cerulean City Gym Leader!" Brock answered, recognizing the red-haired girl, who seemed not to have noticed them. "That's her… but I have no idea why she's here."

"What?" Anna was surprised to know this, and wanted to see what the reason was for her just standing there and not being at the Gym. "I think we should go talk to her… I'd really like to know what's going on at the Cerulean City Gym! Between this, and what Nurse Joy told us, I would really like to get to the bottom of all this!"

Brock tried to tell her to stay back, but Anna had already made up her mind, and she walked up to the bike shop, ignoring the invitation of the owner that was trying to sell his bicycles to anyone who looked like might be interested. The Ketchum girl came closer to Misty and called out her name to draw her attention… and Misty immediately answered by turning her head to Anna in curiosity.

"Huh? Hi, you were looking for me?" Misty asked as Anna got closer and greeted her with a wave of her hand. "I don't think I've ever seen you around here… you're a travelling Pokemon trainer, right?"

"That's right, my name is Annika Ketchum!" she answered with a wink. "But you can just call me Anna! Me and my brother Ash have just come down from Mt. Moon after getting a Boulder Badge each from the Pewter City Gym… and after resting up for a while, we would have liked to challenge the Cerulean City Gym in order to gain our second badge!"

"Oh, I see…" Misty murmured, somewhat dejectedly. "Unfortunately, I'm afraid you will be quite disappointed… for now, Gym challenges are closed."

"Why is that?" Brock asked, reaching Anna and Misty as well. "I thought a Gym Leader's duty was to accept any challenge coming… and while a Gym might be closed for some reason from time to time, there needs to be a really important reason to justify that. I thought your sisters had the duty of being Gym Leaders, right?"

Misty frowned noticeably. "You are Brock, the Pewter City Gym Leader, right? How is it that you're traveling with Anna and her brother now?" she asked curiously.

"My father came back to the Gym, and took back his place as Leader… so I was able to start chasing my dream of traveling around the world and be a Pokemon breeder." He answered.

"Oh… I see." Misty nodded, before taking a deep sigh. "Well, to answer your question… I felt like getting away from the Gym at the moment! I just had a bit of a row with my sisters… actually, that was more of a row from my side, since my older sisters don't seem to care much about it."

"You quarreled with your sisters? What was the matter?" Anna asked.

"Well, you see… yesterday, a purple-haired guy came to our Gym and challenged the Gym Leader for a Cascade Badge…" Misty explained. "He was a total jerk about it too… he used a strange Pokemon I've never seen before, and he called me and my sisters weak after defeating us. I verbally burned him for that, but he didn't look like he cared much."

Anna rolled her eyes. "Not again…"

"I take it you know the guy…" Misty commented.

Anna shrugged as she placed her hat back in place. "Sadly, I do… His name is Paul, and my brother and I have met him a couple times. Yes, he's a total douche-bag, I agree with you on that." She answered. "But what does this have to do with the fact that you quarreled with your sisters?"

"It has everything to do, in fact." Misty explained in annoyance. "You see, I was away for a short while when this Paul guy came to the Gym. As it turned out when I came back, my sisters offered him to just take the Cascade Badge and be done with it. He refused, and stayed until I was back to have a battle with me. After he got his badge and was gone, I asked my sisters what they were thinking… it's annoying, every time someone comes to challenge our Gym, they just suggest they give out the badge, and that's it. That's why I was forced to take the position of Gym Leader… my sisters don't care about the Gym, they just want to do their stupid swimming performances. Even though I would like to travel and learn more in order to become the greatest expert in Water-type Pokemon…"

Anna was quite annoyed at what she had just learned, and even Brock didn't like how Misty's sisters were skirting their duties as Gym Leaders. "Well, that really isn't fair to you!" Anna exclaimed angrily. "You have a right to follow your own dreams as well… I get that they like their performances, but they could do those and being Gym Leaders without you being forced to fight for them!"

"Yeah, that's what I think too…" Misty murmured. "But you try go and tell them…"

Anna smirked slightly. "Tell you what… I'm going to do just that!" she said, smacking her fist on the palm of her hand. Then, much to Misty's surprise, Anna grabbed the redhead's hand and started pulling her towards the Pokemon Center. "Let's go meet my brother! We'll gather at the Pokemon Center, and together, we'll go have a nice talk with your sisters! It is time they get serious about being Gym Leaders!"

"Hey, hold on a sec…" Misty tried to protest, as she and Brock followed Anna back to the Pokemon Center, leaving the bike shop behind…

* * *

"_What on Earth is this?_" Pikachu asked in Pokemon language as soon as he and Ash were in sight of the Cerulean Gym. It really didn't look like a Gym at all, with all those posters announcing a performance of Cerulean City's Sensational Sisters, and the myriad people standing in a line at the entrance. Rather, it looked like a place for exhibitions and whatnot, and Ash himself was quite baffled by that.

"I have no idea, Pikachu… are these supposed to be the sisters of Cerulean City's Gym Leader?" Ash asked in wonder, looking at the poster featuring three teenage girls in colourful swimsuits: one of them had blue hair, one was a blonde, and the third had pink hair, and they were all waving to an imaginary audience. They seemed to be celebrities in their own right. "Hmm… the Sensational Sisters, Lily, Violet and Daisy… man, one of them has the same name as Gary's sister… but what are they thinking, turning their Gym into some kind of stadium?"

"_I have no idea…_" Pikachu answered. "_Let's take a look around and see if we can discover something more._"

"You're right, Pikachu…" Ash answered, and the two began walking around the Gym, trying to find a window from which to look inside. They finally came across one, and peeked inside to see that the pool which was supposed to host the Gym battles was instead decorated for what looked like an exhibition of synchronized swimming, with backdrops and stage lights. It was deserted for now, but judging from the large queue of people, it wouldn't be long before the show would start…

Ash and Pikachu were quite amazed, and not exactly amused by this. If the gym was being used this way, that meant there would be no Gym battle for them…

"Man, I sure don't like how they're using this Gym…" Ash answered. "Let's go back to the Pokémon center… Anna and Brock might return soon, and I'd like to know what they discovered."

"_Sure thing, Ash!_" Pikachu concluded, and the two of them began walking back to the place of the appointment…

* * *

**TO BE CONTINUED**

A/N: I would like thank Lily Nadesico and NEBSparky for helping me to get this chapter finished and sorry about the cliff-hanger but it already has a lot of stuff in it as it is. Hopefully what I do have in the chapter will make up for what I don't have in it.


	8. Showdown in Cerulean City

Disclaimer: I still do not own Pokemon and how lack and White redeems the previous seasons by far though it sucks N, Hilbert and Hilda aren't in it.

Pokemon: Rise of Heroes

Showdown in Cerulean City

By EmperoDraco7 and co-written by Lily Nadesico and NEBSparky86

"Okay, here we are…" Ash Ketchum murmured to himself as he began waiting for his sister and Brock just outside of Cerulean City's Pokemon Center. Both he and Pikachu were still glancing at the building in which Cerulean City's Gym was supposedly located, and they were still rather incredulous at what they had seen there. "This is where we should meet back with Anna and Brock… hopefully, they've discovered something as well."

"_Yeah__… __by __the __way __Ash, __do __you __think __they__'__ll __take __long?__It__'__s __been __quite __a __long __time __ever __since __they __went __away__…_" Pikachu noted, looking around himself to see whether their friends were nearby. He finally caught a glimpse of Anna's familiar white hat as the Ketchum girl came out of a side way, almost dragging a red-haired and tomboyish-looking girl along with her, with Brock keeping up behind them. "_Oh, __there __they __are __Ash! __Look, __that__'__s __Anna!_"

"Huh? Where…" Ash inquired as he looked in the direction Pikachu was pointing to, and he was glad to see that his sister and their mutual friend were coming back, even though he didn't recognize the redhead with them. "Oh, here they are! Hey, Anna! Brock! We're here, everyone!"

"Why, Ashy, you're bang on time!" Anna giggled in amusement as she, Misty and Brock reached him and Pikachu. "Since when have you stated being so diligent? I remember I always had to wake you up, back in Pallet!"

"Haha, very funny, Annie!" the boy answered. "Anyway, glad to see you… and who's the girl you're pretty much dragging along?"

"The name's Misty, for your information…" the redhead answered in an annoyed tone, before giving a good look at the trainer in front of her. "Say, you don't happen to be Ash Ketchum, do you? Anna's brother?"

Ash looked at her curiously for a few seconds. "Er, yes, that's me!" he finally answered. "And this is my first Pokemon, Pikachu! Pleased to meet you… er… by the way, who are you?"

Misty smiled slightly as she introduced herself. "My name's Misty, and I'm the current Gym Leader of Cerulean City! Pleased to meet you as well." She answered. "You and your sister must be here to challenge me for a Cascade Badge, right?"

"Well… yes, that was the intention, before Pikachu and I went to the Gym to check it out, and we discovered it's being used for a synchronized swimming exhibition…" Ash answered. He saw that Misty had begun frowning at that.

"It seems things aren't going all that well with the Cerulean Gym, as of late." Brock stated. "Misty told us quite a lot of things… it seems she took the position of Gym Leader because her sisters were not interested in it. Not only that, it seems that whenever Misty is absent, her sisters simply give out Cascade Badges to challengers who come to the Gym."

"They're just not interested in running the Gym…" Misty muttered darkly. "It just makes me mad… not only are they skirting their duties, but they're also dumping it all on me…"

Ash didn't like what he was hearing, as he knew damn well that Gym Leaders are only to give out Gym Badges whenever they are defeated by the challenging trainer and that wasn't all as Anna soon spoke. "Oh yeah, I just remembered... Gary wasn't the only one who beat us to Cerulean City..." she told him with a frown. "Paul got here too and he got his badge before we showed up!"

"The hell did you just say?" exclaimed Ash, he definitely was angry with having found out that Paul had already been to Cerulean City and started clenching his fists at the thought of having previously encountered the purple-haired creep back at the Viridian Forest as well as the Pewter City Gym. "I don't believe this... That lousy..."

"Ash..." began Brock, worried that he might do something that he'll end up regretting. "Just try to relax for a moment, besides he's already long gone by now so there's no since in searching for him right now. Our main objective is for the two of you to earn your second Gym Badges."

Ash sighed at this, knowing that Brock was right and he needed to focus on the task at hand as well as straighten something out with Misty's sisters while they're at it. "Alright, I think it's time we get our Cascade badges and the right way." With that in mind, the younger male headed for the Cerulean Gym with the others following close behind.

Unfortunately, they were being watched by two familiar people from Mt. Moon and they were glaring darkly at the three trainers they had crossed paths with before while noticing that they have a new companion with them. "Well Jessie, look what we have here?" began James, mentally cursing at the site of the ones who got in their way before.

"It seems to me that those twerps have themselves a new member of their group, no matter we will have the advantage once we steal the Pokemon from the Cerulean Gym and while we're at it we are going to get that Pikachu as well."

Soon Meowth's voice was head behind them. "Well let's not just stand there, we need to be prepared and this would make up to the boss that we failed at Mt. Moon so he wouldn't have to send one of the more dangerous members at us."

"Don't remind us..." muttered both Jessie and James with a small shudder at the thought of having to work with one of the worse members of Team Rocket should it get back to their leader so they better make this plan work as Jessie said. "Let's go before we get spotted."

"Good idea Jess..." With that, the trio went back into hiding as they needed to be prepared for their upcoming plan to get their targeted Pokemon while thinking that nothing could go wrong with this one.

* * *

It didn't take long for Ash and the others to arrive at the Cerulean City Gym and unlike Ash's first time there, they saw that there was nobody present at all which was a sign that the Sensational Sisters' performance had recently ended though the group were wondering if the sisters themselves were still around despite this. Misty was furious that her sisters would turn the gym into a stadium. The thought of having to run the gym while her sisters did shows made her skin crawl. She had a dream to be the best Water Pokémon trainer and her sisters neglecting the gym prevented her from achieving her dream. Ash, Anna and Brock followed Misty as she stormed through the halls to her sisters' dressing room and kicked the door open which caused her sisters, Daisy, Lily and Violet to jump and turn to see Misty angry. They went back to tending to their makeup and ignored Misty as if she wasn't there.

"HEY I WANNA TO TALK TO YOU THREE!" Misty snarled at the top of her lungs.

"Like, did you hear anything?" Lily asked her two other sisters as they tended to their makeup and their hair.

"Nope," answered Violet. "All I heard was a little runt with a temper tantrum."

"Ouch," Ash winced under his breath as he and Anna watched what was about to happen now.

Misty then approached her sisters, grabbed their makeup and threw it all on the ground to get their attention. The sisters sighed and finally gave her their attention. "I wanna know why you three are just giving out badges instead of making the trainers battle you for them," she told her sisters.

"Because battling is like not our thing," explained Lily.

"Yeah, all the trainers, with three of them being from a place called Pallet Town, come into gym and beat our Pokémon especially that one jerk," added Daisy, closing her eyes as she remembered who had battled them earlier. "He looked so cruel and cold we didn't want to face. So we just gave him a badge and told him not step one foot in the gym."

"This guy, what did he look like?" Ash asked as he was now interested in Misty's sisters had to say as he had suspected that it was someone who he thought it was but needed to be certain.

"Uh, about four inches taller than you carried a travel bag," began Violet.

"He had purple hair," chimed in Daisy, "not to mention he was a real douche bag."

"Purple hair and a real douche bag," repeated Anna. "Sounds like that bastard Paul really was here… Like Misty said he was."

"Oh you know him?" asked Lily, raising an eyebrow with curiosity was getting the better of her. "I thought he was complete and total ass just from his attitude and the way he treated his Pokémon."

"Yup, that's definitely Paul alright," said Ash as he gave his older sister a slight nod.

"Well it doesn't excuse the fact that you're just giving badges away instead of battling trainers," Misty said to her sisters as she calmed down. "I'll demonstrate to you that battling trainers establishes a reputation for our gym." She then looked at Ash and Anna the asked them while wondering who will be her first opponent in the battle as she was quite curious about how strong they were. "Which of you two want to face me for the Cascade Badge?"

"Okay, Anna you go first this time," Ash said as he looked to his sister.

"Nah, you've got more enthusiasm," Anna said to Ash. "So you go first little brother."

"I was hoping that we would switch who would go first at every gym," moaned Ash, though he didn't have much of a choice but at least he did train for this match "but if you want me to go first, then I'll go first."

"Alright then, I'll face you first," Misty said to Ash before giving a grin and a wink, "little brother."

"Dude, Ash, I think she likes you," Brock said to Ash as he nudged him.

"What, n-no way," said Ash as he looked flustered.

"I suggest you get your team ready, because I'm not gonna go easy on you… little brother!" Misty said. Ash was already beginning to get rather uncomfortable with Misty calling him that. "And you, girls… keep your eyes peeled, because I'm going to show you how it's really done!"

"Fine…" Lily answered with a sigh while crossing her arms. "At least we'll hopefully be seeing something different for a change."

Misty smiled cunningly to herself. This time, she would make sure that her sisters get off their high horses…

* * *

A few hours later, as the sun was beginning to set behind Mt. Moon, the pool room in the Cerulean City Gym had been cleared of all decorations… and Ash and Misty stood at opposite sides of it, each on a floating platform that allowed them to have a good footing as they battled. The red-haired trainer, her Pokéball ready in her hand, looked at the audience, which was entirely made up of her sisters, Anna and Brock, and mentally prepared herself for the battle.

"Okay, then… this will be a two-on-two battle!" she exclaimed, looking straight at Ash and Pikachu. "No substitutions allowed, we will battle until one trainer's Pokemon are both knocked out. Of course, if you win, you get a Cascade Badge. Do your best, my Pokemon aren't exactly known for going soft!"

"Don't worry, I plan on it!" Ash answered. Pikachu stepped forward, his cheeks cracking with electricity as he was eager to start the battle, but this time, Ash decided to keep him in reserve for the moment. "Er… Pikachu, actually, I was thinking to leave you on the sidelines for now… I know your Electric-type attacks are very useful against Water-types, but I'd like to keep you rested for later, okay?"

Pikachu was a little disappointed, but he didn't dwell on that. '_Alright, __Ash__…_' he answered with a small sigh, placing himself right behind his trainer as he called his first Pokemon.

"And… I will choose my first Pokemon, if you'll allow me!" Ash declared. "Butterfree, I choose you!"

The Pokéball opened, and the beautiful Bug / Flying type fluttered in the air, spreading his wings and moving his antennae. "_Here __I __come!__Thank __you __for __choosing __me __Ash, __I __won__'__t __disappoint __you!_"

Ash smiled kindly at his Butterfree. "I'm sure you won't, pal!"

A few squeals of delight were heard from the audience as Misty's sisters found Ash's Butterfree to be cute, but the redhead didn't seem to be fazed and smirked to herself. "A Butterfree, huh? You don't see many of those, lately… but it doesn't matter! Now, let me show you my mastery of Water-type Pokemon! Staryu, come out!"

Misty threw her Pokéball, and out of it came a strange Pokemon which looked like some kind of starfish: it was dull brown all over, except for a spherical red gem encased in gold in the center of its body, and it had five pointy limbs protruding from its core. It let out a short war cry, and stood tall on the water, issuing a challenge to Butterfree!

"What kind of Pokemon is that?" Ash asked himself, having never seen a Staryu before. He quickly consulted his Pokédex, pointing it at the strange creature…

"_Staryu, __the __Star __Shaped __Pokemon._" It said. "_As __long __as __it s__core __section __is __unharmed, __it __can __regenerate __any __damage. __Its __top __point __can __shoot __water __and __bubbles __to __attack __enemies._"

"Wow, looks like I better be careful then…" frowned Ash before turning his attention towards his Butterfree and nodded. "Alright, let's start things out with a Gust attack!" Butterfree flapped his wings fast, forming a Gust at the Water-Type Pokemon.

"Staryu, dodge and use Water Gun!" ordered Misty, having her Pokemon dodge the attack before retaliating with a jet of water from the top, which managed to force the Bug/Flying-Type backwards a bit. "Now use Bubblebeam!"

"Quick Butterfree, counter with your Whirlwind!" yelled Ash as Staryu spun around to perform a familiar attack that Gary's Squirtle had previously used against him before but Butterfree managed to use his Whirlwind to blow the attack right back at his opponent. "Let's try a Stun Spore!"

The Bug/Flying-Type flapped his wings and yellow dust was created, which began to surround Staryu but Misty would have none of that. "Hurry Staryu, in the water!" she quickly ordered her Pokemon as it jumped into the water to avoid being paralyzed. "Sorry to disappoint you Ash but my Pokemon won't be affected by your Butterfree's Stun Spore if it's in water."

"Wow, she's good…" noted Anna, surprised by how well Misty is holding her own in the battle against her brother of course she was hoping that he can pull through and win.

Brock nodded at her comment and said. "She's not Cerulean City's Gym Leader for nothing, I should know as I'm a Gym Leader as well."

"That's just great…." scowled Ash, realizing that he would have to find a way to keep Staryu out of the water in order to defeat the Star Shaped Pokemon just as he saw it coming out and being prepared to attack again. "Okay, let's try this… Butterfree, use Confusion now!"

Butterfree nodded and concentrated as he used his Psychic-Type attack to stop the Water-Type in its track while causing some damage to it. "Staryu, are you okay?" she asked her Pokemon, with a simple grunt being her answer. "Okay, no more messing around now… Staryu use your Water Pulse attack!"

"Dodge it Butterfree and use Silver Wind," countered Ash as Butterfree dodged the pulsating water sent at him.

Butterfree then retaliated by sending gusts of silver wind at Staryu causing it to be lifted off the island it was on and land on the side. Staryu looked as if it was going to faint, but Misty wasn't going to let her Pokémon go down without a fight.

"Staryu, use Recover," ordered Misty.

Staryu then began to glow as he recovered what health was lost from Butterfree's Silver Wind and Confusion.

"Butterfree, quick use Confusion before it can recover," countered Ash. Butterfree was quick to focus psychic energy on the Staryu, but it was too late as Staryu recovered part of its health. Staryu was enveloped with psychic energy and was sent flying into the wall close to Misty.

"Keep it up Butterfree and use Stun Spore then Tackle," ordered Ash.

Butterfree unleashed an orange powder on Staryu. Staryu started to feel numb and lose feeling in his limbs. Butterfree then charged at Staryu knocking it down before it could try to jump in the water and wash off the powder from Butterfree's Stun Spore. The Tackle attack did critical damage Staryu and put it down for the count. A white sea lion Pokémon on the side of the pool apparently looked as it was clapping at Staryu's defeat.

"Like, just whose side are you on Seel?" Daisy asked the sea lion Pokémon.

Misty recalled her fallen Pokémon to its Pokéball and put it away. Misty then grabbed her other Pokéball and threw it towards the pool

"Go Starmie!" exclaimed Misty as a purple star shaped Pokémon was released from its Pokéball.

"What is that Pokémon?" Ash asked his Pokédex, Dexter.

"_Starmie_, _the __mysterious __Pokémon_," answered Dexter. "_The __evolved __form __of __Staryu_. _Starmie __is __said __to __send __mysterious __radio __signals __in the __night __sky __from __the __red __core __in __the __center __of __its __body_."

"Starmie use Rapid Spin," ordered Misty.

Starmie complied and rapidly spun towards Butterfree and struck him dead on. Butterfree was briefly thrown back and recovered quickly.

"Can you keep going Butterfree?" Ash asked the butterfly Pokémon.

'_Yes_, _I __can __keep __going_," answered Butterfree.

"Alright then Butterfree use String Shot," ordered Ash.

Butterfree shot silky string at Starmie to slow it down considerably.

"Starmie, dodge it with Rapid Spin and then use Water Pulse," countered Misty.

Starmie did as it was told by using Rapid Spin to repel Butterfree's String Shot and then sent pulsating water at Butterfree.

"Watch out Butterfree!" warned Ash.

Butterfree sidestepped the Water Pulse attack just in the nick of time. Then, just as Starmie was trying to line up again for another Rapid Spin attack, Ash gave him the next order. "Excellent, Butterfree! And now… use Silver Wind!"

Misty winced as Butterfree began flapping his wings and sending a silverish wind at her Starmie, who reeled from the super-effective hit as Starmie was also part Psychic. However, the star-shaped Pokemon managed to remain upright, the gem in its core glowing as brightly as ever.

"Nice job, Starmie! And now… use Recover!" Misty ordered. Starmie was faster than Staryu and this time, before Butterfree could do anything to stop it, it managed to recover fully, and came back to the battle as well-rested as ever! Ash winced, understanding that he and his Butterfree had just wasted all those attacks, but he was not about to let that discourage him.

"Okay, no problem, Butterfree, we can still win this!" Ash exclaimed. "Use Stun Spore to impede its movements!"

"_Right __away!_" the giant butterfly answered in his shrill language, flapping his wings and showering Starmie with paralyzing dust, but Misty knew how to deal with such tactic.

"We know how to deal with this, right, Starmie?" she asked her Pokemon. "Use Rapid Spin and dive underwater to shake off the effect!"

Starmie began rapidly spinning on itself, shaking off the Stun Spores before they could do any damage, and dived underwater, as Butterfree began quickly glancing in all direction to try and see where his opponent had gone. Unfortunately, it wasn't easy to follow Starmie as it dashed underwater… and the starfish Pokemon was able to quickly reemerge and strike Butterfree, causing him to lose some altitude!

"Dammit, I didn't see this coming…" Ash exclaimed. "Butterfree, try using Silver Wind again!"

"_I__'__ll __give __it __a __shot__…_" the butterfly Pokemon exclaimed, trying to aim another of his Silver Wind attacks at Starmie. But once again, Misty and her Pokemon proved to be a lot faster than expected…

"Starmie! Attack with Water Pulse again!" Misty called. The gem on Starmie's core glowed for a split second, and shot a large bullet of water at Butterfree, hitting him right when he was aiming his attack! Butterfree let out a small shriek and tried to regain altitude… but this time, the attack had left him dazed, and he seemed to sway from side to side, as if he was drunk…

"_I__… __don__'__t __feel__… __so __good__…_" Butterfree said groggily.

"This is bad for Butterfree…" Brock explained for the audience. "Water Pulse has a chance of confusing the opponent when it hits, and a confused Pokemon runs the risk of hurting himself n a battle. I have to say, I didn't expect Misty to be this good."

"Like, us neither!" Violet answered. "We may have inherited the style and elegance, but heck, guess Misty got the talent for Pokemon battles!"

"Now I see what she meant…" Daisy answered, nodding at her youngest sister's skill.

Ash was not exactly thrilled with how the battle was going. He seemed to be at an advantage, but now Misty had managed to turn the tables with ease. "Darn… this really isn't good at all!" he said, as he tried to think of a way to salvage the match. "Butterfree, try to focus! Use Bug Bite on Starmie!"

Butterfree tried to steady himself and dived down upon Starmie… but the confusion took its toll, and the butterfly Pokemon missed his target entirely and slammed upon the border of the pool, making a small dent upon it as the audience winced in sympathy!

"No, Butterfree!" Ash exclaimed.

"Ouch!" Anna exclaimed. "Poor Butterfree, that must have hurt…"

Butterfree managed to pick himself up once again, and tread to steady himself… but Misty was not going to let him do that! "Cool, just like I expected!" she said. "And now, Starmie… let's end this with a Bubblebeam!"

Starmie let out a short cry and shot out another barrage of bubbles at high speed, hitting Butterfree right when he was about to take flight again! This time, Butterfree was thrown on the ground and lay there fainted, causing Misty to win the match as the other three Sensational Sisters clapped loudly.

"Bravo, Misty!" Lily cheered. "That was pretty awesome!"

"Well, she fought well indeed…" Brock commented. "Ash should have recalled Butterfree… the confusion effect wears out if the affected Pokemon is recalled."

"Still, he's got Pikachu now!" Anna stated, convinced that her twin brother would pull though this. "And Electric-type moves have the advantage over Water-types, so… Ash shouldn't have that much trouble with this."

"Maybe so… but remember, it's not the type match up that decides everything." Brock reminded her. Anna nodded in understanding as they turned back to the battle, and Ash called out Pikachu to fight.

"Okay, buddy… I guess it's your turn now!" he stated, winking at the electric mouse. "Get ready, because this Starmie is nothing to sneeze at."

"_I __know, __I__'__ll __do __my __very __best!_" Pikachu stated. "_You __just __give __me __the __orders, __and __I__'__ll __take __care __of __the __rest!_"

"Alright then…." began the raven-haired trainer and turned his attention back towards Misty and her Starmie, knowing that this was now or never as he ordered. "Okay, let's start things out with Thundershock!"

Pikachu charged up his Electric-Type attack though the red-haired Gym Leader wasn't stupid as he knew that like Silver Wind with Psychic-Types, Pikachu's Thundershock can hurt Water-Types like Starmie. "Oh no you don't!" she said with a light smirk. "Starmie, dodge and use Swift!"

The Water/Psychic-Type quickly managed to dodge the electricity and began spinning around as golden stars formed from its body, managing to hit Pikachu. Brock on the other-hand scowled when that happened. "Ash has to be careful as Swift is an attack that never misses its target no matter where it is."

"Oh man…" Anna bit her lower lip, knowing that her brother will need to find a way to take down that Starmie and fast though she took a glance at the sea lion that was with Misty's sisters. "I wonder what that is…" she wondered with a hint of curiosity, taking out her Pokédex.

_Seel, the Sea Lion Pokemon. It loves freezing cold conditions and relishes swimming in a frigid climate of around 14 degrees._

Anna was surprised by this though her attention went back towards her brother's battle against Misty, which the final round was taking place. "Okay, Pikachu strike with Quick Attack!" he ordered as the Electric Mouse charged at top speed, hitting Starmie dead center. "Now try your Thundershock again!"

This time around, the Electric-Type attack hit its target due to being close enough that Starmie wouldn't be able to dodge it on time. "Oh yeah! Starmie, use Recover!"

_Crap!_ Ash mentally kicked himself as he had forgotten Starmie can use Recover even when hit by a Super-Effective attack which means he will need to a way to get around that problem and fast though Misty wasn't done yet.

"Now use Bubblebeam!" The Water/Psychic-Type let out another barrage of bubbles, hitting Pikachu dead center and forcing him back a bit. "Not bad, but then again it won't be enough so let's try a Water Pulse!"

"Pikachu, quick dodge it!" commanded Ash, not wanting to risk Pikachu getting confused if hit by that attack and he was glad that his Pokemon managed to get out of the way on time. "Let's try Iron Tail!"

Pikachu's tail glowed white and he slammed it against Starmie, though it wasn't as effective as his previous attacks. "Use another Thundershock before it can regain its balance!" His cheeks sparked as he let out another jolt of Electricity, once again causing massive damage to Starmie.

"Starmie, Recover!" The red gem in Starmie's center began to glow as it regained its strength once more, which made Ash grit his teeth out of annoyance since it could cause the match to go on forever. "Now time for Water Gun!"

The male Ketchum muttered a curse as Pikachu was hit by the Water-Type attack, he knew that Misty wasn't stupid enough to use Tackle or Rapid Spin against him with the chance of Starmie getting paralyzed by the Static Ability. "Wait a minute…" he soon realized something as it might be crazy enough to work. "That's it… I know what I can do!"

"It's time we finish this! Starmie, use Water Pulse once more!"

"Pikachu use Mega Kick and charge through that Water Pulse attack," ordered Ash much to Anna and Brock's shocked face.

"Is your brother out of his mind?" Brock asked Anna as they watched Pikachu launch himself at Starmie right into the orb of pulsating water.

"I guess he is," answered Anna as she watched Pikachu plow into the pulsating orb of water and still charge at Starmie.

"This kid has guts; I like that," Misty said to herself as she watched Pikachu connect with his Mega Kick striking Starmie in the center of red gem on its chest. Starmie flew back out of the pool and the wall of the gym. Its red gem in the center flashed and them stopped as it had fainted.

"Alright little brother!" exclaimed Anna as she raised her left fist in a pumping motion.

Misty gave a sigh as she recalled her Starmie and gave a smirk. There was something about Ash that she liked. It certainly wasn't his looks and he wasn't really her type to date. 'Maybe it was his battling style,' Misty thought to herself. Misty walked over to Ash with a badge in the shape of a raindrop and began to hand it to him.

"Here 's the Cascade Badge Ash," Misty said to Ash as she opened Ash's hand gave him his second badge. "This badge will allow you train Pokémon up to level 30 and allows you to use Hidden Machine move Cut once you get it."

"Thanks," said Ash as he received the badge from Misty.

Misty then looked to Anna with a small grin on her face. Anna was confused on why Misty had a grin on her face.

"Um, why do you have a grin on your face?" Anna asked Misty nervously as she had a sweat drop on her face.

"Well, I'm hoping you can give me the same kind of battle that your little brother gave," answered Misty. "That was one hectic and crazy battle. I enjoyed every bit of it."

"Sure, I'll try," Anna said nervously.

"Don't worry," Misty said to Anna with a reassuring smile, "just give me your all. That's all I can ask from you."

"No problem," said Anna. "Well I'm sure that you want to heal your Pokémon at the Pokémon Center."

"Yes I do," Misty said to Anna as she gave her a slight nod.

* * *

Three hours later, Ash, Anna and Brock were at the Cerulean Pokémon Center getting their Pokémon healed after the gym and Anna training her Pokémon for her gym battle in the morning. Anna certainly felt ready for her gym battle against Misty. She chose to use her Wartortle and Beedrill against Misty's Staryu and Starmie. Anna checked her Pokédex to look at her the attacks her Pokémon had that she could use effectively against Misty's water Pokémon. Of course, she knew that her Wartortle's Water-type meant that she would take less damage by Staryu and Starmie's attacks, and she could strike back with Mega Punch, but if the seastar-like Pokemon could use Recover, she'd have her work cut out for her. It wouldn't have been easy to break through their defenses and do enough damage to bring them down…

As she was thinking about that, the female Ketchum twin took a look at her Beedrill's Pokéball and began forming an idea in her mind. Now that she was thinking of it, Starmie had taken quite a nasty hit when it had been hit by Butterfree's Silver Wind, even though it had managed to shrug it off later by using Recover. That could have been a good way to attack Starmie… by using Bug-type attacks against it, and her Beedrill definitely had one such attack…

"Hmm, that could be a good idea, now that I think of it…" Anna said to herself. "Beedrill knows the Twineedle attack, and that will surely help against Starmie, who seems to be of a type that is weak against Bug attacks. Okay then… I can use Wartortle for defense and for wearing down Misty's Pokemon, and then I can use Beedrill to deal a decisive blow to Starmie!"

"Hey, Anna!" Ash called to his sister from the desk of the Pokemon Center, where he had just received his Pokemon, who had rested up and were feeling ready for everything. "Are you alright? You've been in quite a pensive mood now…"

"Oh, sorry, bro!" the girl answered, adjusting her hat. "Actually, I was trying to think of a strategy to use against Misty tomorrow morning. I was thinking of using Wartortle and Beedrill for the battle, as Wartortle will not take much damage from Misty's Pokemon's attacks, and Beedrill should be able to break through Starmie's defense and take it out! What do you think?"

"Well, I think it's a nice strategy, sis!" Ash answered with a small smile. "However, remember that Water Pulse can confuse your Pokemon, and the fact that Wartortle is resistant to Water-type damage won't help when Wartortle risks hurting herself."

"Of course, Ash, I know that…" Anna answered. "And I am not going to get caught off guard, now that I know what to expect! You guys just sit back and watch me, Wartortle and Beedrill earn our Cascade Badge!"

"_Well, Anna, you sure are confident!_" Pikachu squeaked with a smile on his face.

"It's good that you are so sure of yourself." Brock wanted to add. "But I'd like to warn you, don't get overconfident. As you've seen it this battle, Misty is not an opponent to be trifled with., and if you're not careful, she will give your Pokemon a run for their money, type advantage or not."

"Thanks, Brock… I will keep that in mind." Anna answered, turning a little more serious.

Ash stretched lazily after receiving his Pokéballs back from Nurse Joy. "Oh, well… guess it's time we go out and get some grub for dinner, don't you agree? All this excitement made me kinda hungry…" he proposed.

Anna giggled in amusement. "Ash, you're the same glutton as always! But still… it's a good idea, both us and our Pokemon could use some dinner right now!"

"Well, then… in this case, follow me!" Brock proposed. "I have seen a nice place around here where we can eat a nice hot dinner, and it isn't even that expensive! I think our Pokemon will like it too!"

"_Yay!_" Pikachu squeaked. "_After such a battle, I would really love to enjoy a quiet evening… and enjoy some ketchup, while I'm at it!_"

Anna giggled. "As they say, like Pokemon, like trainer!"

* * *

The next morning, after everyone had gotten ready, Anna presented herself at the Cerulean City Gym for her match against Misty. This time, the acceptance was a lot warmer, and in a few minutes, Anna was standing at her side of the gym pool, with Misty on the other and her friends and Misty's sisters all lined up in the audience and ready to enjoy the match. The red-haired Gym Leader looked at Anna and smirked as she took out her first Pokéball, which Anna already knew to be a Staryu.

"Well, Anna, nice to see that you're bang on time!" Misty said. "Yesterday, your brother gave me one of the best fights I've had in a while! I hope you'll be able to keep up with me, or this will be a long day for you!"

"Don't worry, Misty, I am more than a match for you!" Anna exclaimed with a wink. "And I'll show you that right now! Come out, Wartortle, it's time to fight!"

Wartortle came out from her Pokéball and landed on her feet as she glanced at her opponent, knowing that she can take any Water-Type attack as long as it wasn't the Water Pulse move. "Now shall we get started? The same rules from yesterday apply to today's match as well!" said Misty, smiling at the other female.

"Yes, I know and you better be ready because this will definitely be one hell of a battle!" smirked the brown-haired trainer then nodded at her Starter and said. "Alright, Wartortle use Tackle!"

"Staryu, use Tackle as well!" ordered Misty, both Water-Type Pokemon collided head-on and then landed back on their respective sides of the battlefield. "Now use Swift!"

"Hurry Wartortle, use Withdraw!" The Turtle quickly went inside of her shell in order to protect herself from the Star Shaped Pokemon's stars. "Time for a Bite attack!" The female starter jumped at her opponent, biting onto it. "Alright!"

"Staryu, get yourself free with Rapid Spin!" Staryu complied, spinning around until Wartortle was forced to let go. "Enough playing around, Staryu Water-Pulse!"

"Quick Wartortle, dodge it!" Anna had her Pokemon move out of the way as she knew that one of her Pokemon getting confused would cost her the round so she needed to be careful, unfortunately the Cerulean Gym Leader was expecting her to dodge.

"Use Tackle now!" the female Ketchum gritted her teeth when Misty's Water-Type managed to land a direct hit, having used the Water-Pulse attack as a distraction to catch her off-guard. "Time for another Swift attack!"

Wartortle let out a yell as she was hit by the barrage of stars, though Anna wasn't out of this match yet. "Watortle, use Mega Punch quickly!" The starter opened her eyes and dove back down, throwing a powerful punch right onto Staryu's center. "How do you like that?"

"Way to go Anna!" cheered Ash, glad that his sister was able to make her counter-attack.

"Not bad, but you need to remember about an attack that Staryu had used when I went up against your brother…" a grin formed on the Tomboyish Mermaid's face as she said that and turned her attention towards her Staryu. "Recover now!"

"Oh great…" Anna bit her lower lip as she had forgotten that Staryu as well as Starmie know the Recover attack so she better act fast. "Hurry and use Tackle!"

_On it!_ said Wartortle, charging at Staryu with a powerful Tackle attack though she wasn't fast enough to hit it before it regained some of its energy. _Dammit, it doesn't give up so easily but then again neither do we._

Anna remained silent for a moment, trying to come up with a way around Staryu's Recover and fast as she knew that one mistake would cost her. Then again, if her brother could overcome the Cerulean Gym Leader's tactics then so could she. All she needed was the right moment to make her move.

"Wartortle, use Mega Punch again," Anna ordered her Wartortle.

'_Got it_!' acknowledged Wartortle as she leapt at the star-shaped Pokémon, preparing to use her Mega Punch.

"Staryu, use your Water Gun to slow Wartortle down," countered Misty.

Staryu obeyed Misty and shot a jet of water at Wartortle as she had thrown herself at Staryu and had a glowing fist as she came in with her Mega Punch attack. Wartortle had slowed down considerably due to Staryu's Water Gun but still closed in and struck Staryu dead center in the gem causing Staryu to fly off the floating platform and into the water causing critical damage to the star-shaped Pokémon.

"Staryu, use Recover," ordered Misty as she knew that would infuriate Anna to keep using Recover every time Anna and Wartortle were close to defeating them.

"Not this time Misty," countered Anna. "Wartortle, use Bubblebeam!"

Wartortle obeyed her trainer and sent a jet of bubbles at Staryu as it was trying to use its Recover attack. Staryu was struck by jet of bubbles and it's core flashed, indicating that it had fainted. Seel clapped at Anna's performance.

"Like Seel, you're hopeless," sighed Daisy as she face palmed herself. Misty shot Daisy a nasty glare for her comment.

Misty recalled her Staryu back it's Pokéball for a rest.

"Thank you Staryu," Misty said to her fallen Pokémon in its Pokéball.

Misty then looked to Anna as she saw Anna talking to her Wartortle and let off a soft sigh. She then readied her second Pokéball.

"I think Anna did well battling against Misty," Ash said to Brock as they watched the gym battle.

"I'm not sure about that," Brock replied to Ash. "She had trouble dealing with Misty ordering her Staryu to use that Recover move."

"Yeah, but she managed to pull it out in the end," Ash said to Brock as he and Brock kept facing the battlefield.

Brock let out a sigh and shook his head as he thought that Ash didn't understand what Anna had gone through. 'Ash, that was a difficult battle for your sister,' Brock thought but did not say to Ash. 'Misty really tried her patience and tried to get Anna really worked up and pissed off every time Wartortle had Staryu close to defeat.'

"Alright Starmie, it's your turn," Misty called out as she released her second Pokémon out of its Pokéball.

The purple star-shaped Pokémon dove into the water awaiting it's opponent.

'_Good luck turtle Pokémon_,' Seel said to Wartortle. Anna's starter nodded with a grin and got ready to face Starmie, expecting a much fiercer fight than the one against Staryu. Anna wasted no time getting the first attack, thinking it was going to be an advantage.

"Let's start it with a nice advantage, Wartortle! Use Mega Punch!" Anna ordered, and Wartortle dashed forward and tried to deliver a punishing punch to Starmie. But the starfish Pokemon was faster than they had thought, and it managed to quickly dodge by executing a Rapid Spin and diving underwater, only to resurface a second later behind, slamming on Wartortle's back at high speed!

"_Ow!_" Wartortle grunted. "_You're going to be an annoyance, aren't you? Okay then, the gloves are off!_"

"Don't let up, Wartortle! Use another Mega Punch!" Anna exclaimed. The turtle Pokemon smirked and lunged at Starmie again, striking the gem in its core with a powerful punch and causing it to stagger for a short while. With a confident grin, Anna decided to turn the tables and let Wartortle go on the offensive. "Excellent! Keep it up, Wartortle! Use Bite to stagger it!"

Wartortle lunged at Starmie again, and clamped her jaws shut on one of Starmie's appendages, causing the starfish Pokemon to flinch as it was struck with a super-effective attack. However, Misty did not seem worried in the least, even when Wartortle attacked with yet another Mega Punch, seemingly putting the Mysterious Pokemon on the verge of collapsing…

"Starmie, Recover!" Misty ordered, causing Anna's smile to fade as Starmie began glowing, and its injuries vanished in a second! Misty's star Pokemon was back to full strength in a second, and it went back to attack again, using a Rapid Spin to slam into Wartortle's unprotected underbelly!

"Damn… I had almost forgotten about it…" Anna murmured with a wince. "Wartortle, don't give up, we can still win this! Use Bite again, we must put that Pokemon on the ropes!"

"_Don't worry, I plan on doing that!_" Wartortle answered, trying to bite on Starmie's arm-like pseudopod. However, the star-like Pokemon was once again faster than anyone anticipated and reacted accordingly.

"Starmie, use Harden!" Misty ordered, catching everyone off guard as they never thought Starmie could know such a move. The starfish Pokemon's hide thickened somewhat, and when Wartortle bit on one of its arm, she yelped in pain and staggered back, wide open for any attack Misty was going to follow up with… "Exellent! And now, let's wrap this up! Use Double Edge!"

With a warlike yell, Starmie launched itself at Wartortle and struck her with all of its strength, at the cost of hurting itself somewhat from the powerful blow. However, it was worse for Wartortle, who was flung backwards by the power of the blow and landed in the water with a splash, only to resurface a few moments later, her eyes turning into swirls. Anna sighed, knowing this meant Misty had won that round… and pretty easily at that, too.

"Saw that, Ash?" Brock said. "Anna tried an all-out attack, and Starmie's Recover managed to stave off all damage. This caused Anna and Wartortle to lose their head and attack… which left them wide open and eventually caused their defeat. Anna and her next Pokemon will have to be more careful to win the next battle…"

"Yeah, I saw that…" Ash answered, Pikachu sitting on his knees. Misty's sisters, for their part, were very impressed with their youngest sister's battling technique, and were commenting amongst themselves how talented she was.

"You know, girls… seeing Misty in action is, like, making me change my mind about being a Gym Leader. It actually looks fun!" Violet commented, causing Lily and Daisy to nod just as Anna was about to send out her second and last Pokemon.

"Okay, then…" she said. "I'm counting on you, Beedrill! Do your best!"

Beedrill's Pokeball opened up, and out came the wasp-like Pokemon, sharpening the drills on her arms by rubbing them on each other. A loud buzz filled the air as the huge wasp prepared herself for the battle. "_I'm ready, Anna! I'll take this guy out before you know it!_"

"Good to see you're confident!" Anna said, smiling once again. "Okay, we'll try a different approach and… huh? What's the matter, Misty?"

"_Huh? What about her?_" Beedrill buzzed, looking at Misty in curiosity with her compound eyes. The red-haired Gym Leader had seemingly lost her spunk and, keeping her eyes on Beedrill, was sweating profusely, a goofy grin on her face. She was giggling nervously, and her knees were buckling.

"Misty? Misty, what's the matter?" Anna asked, as even Ash, Pikachu and Brock wondered what the deal was. The Sensational Sisters, on the other hand, only seemed exasperated with what was going on…

"Oh, boy…" Daisy commented. "Just what we needed… our little sister's phobia of Bug-type Pokemon!"

"I… I… er…" Misty stammered, trying to answer Anna's question. One second later, she completely lost her countenance and began screaming bloody murder in her panic. "AAAAAUGH! I CAN'T STAND BUG POKEMON! THEY CREEP ME OUT!"

Beedrill frowned. "_Hmph. Well, I must say I am insulted._"

"Huh?" Ash asked in puzzlement. "Hold… hold on a second, Misty! If you're so afraid of Bug-types, then why didn't you freak out when you saw my Butterfree the last day, during our battle?"

"THAT WAS ANOTHER THING ENTIRELY!" Misty yelled out, before taking a series of deep breathes and trying to steady herself for the imminent battle. "O-okay, then… I… I will fight, nonetheless! S-S-Starmie, stand ready! We… we will win this one too!"

Starmie, even without having a face, looked somewhat surprised at Misty's reaction, but was quickly on its guard and ready to fight, while Beedrill lowered herself at about ground level and prepared for the deciding battle. Anna nodded at Beedrill, but she seemed to be somewhat worried that Misty would not be able to fight at her best, because of her fear of Bug-type Pokemon. "Er… Misty, are you sure you can still fight?"

"S-s-sure I am!" Misty stammered, faking a smile as she tried to show that she was not afraid. "A-a-and I'll show you what I am talking about! S-s-s-starmie… s-s-start with a B-b-bubblebeam, okay?"

"We're not going to fall for that!" Anna exclaimed. "Beedrill, use your Twineedle to fly right through it!"

"_Got it!_" the huge wasp exclaimed, crossing her drill-hands in front of herself and flying at Starmie just when it was about to unleash a barrage of bubbles. She then began hitting the Water/Psychic-Type with them.

Anna soon noticed that Misty was shaking ever since Beedrill entered the battle field and she was starting to get concerned about the young Gym Leader as she, her brother and Brock never knew that the red-haired girl was scared of Bug-Types. "Starmie, use your Swift attack!" ordered the Cerulean Leader out loud in a blood curling scream before the opposing Pokemon began to unleash a barrage of stars which hit the Bug/Poison-Type dead on. "N-now, use-use your Water Pulse…"

"Dodge it Beedrill and use Fury Attack!" commanded Anna, watching her Pokemon barely avoid the Water-Type attack then started hitting Misty's Pokemon repeatedly. "Time for another Twinneedle attack right now!"

Beedrill let out a yell as she was able to use her Bug-Type attack on Starmie again and caused Misty to scream in fear. "Are… are you okay Starmie?" she asked as a grunt was her answer though she couldn't stand seeing Beedrill any longer. "T-try-your Recover before that disgusting Bug attacks again!"

Starmie complied and soon used its Recover to heal itself once again then glared at the Bug Pokemon that was frightening its trainer. _This is getting ridiculous… _muttered Beedrill, then again she can't really blame Misty for not fighting at her best since she's really scared right now and saw her own trainer wondering what to do.

Ash and Brock were just as concerned as Anna was, but didn't know what to say as they were wondering if it will now be a one-sided battle then again Starmie can Recover faster than Staryu could the only question was what will happen now.

"St-Starmie, u-use R-Rapid Spin," Misty stammered nervously.

Starmie obeyed its master and used its Rapid Spin attack with deadly accuracy on Beedrill. Beedrill was flung back, but didn't hit the gym wall.

"How are you holding up Beedrill?" Anna asked her wasp Pokémon.

'_I_'_m fine_,' answered Beedrill. '_I can keep going_.'

"That's good Beedrill," replied Anna as she brushed some her hair to the side. "Use Focus Energy and Fury attack."

Beedrill used her Focus Energy to get pumped and extremely focused to inflict massive damage and charged at Starmie with a powerful Fury attack. Starmie could certainly feel the fury of the Beedrill's Fury attack and the Focus Energy wasn't helping Starmie one bit. Misty watched as she couldn't give a command to Starmie as she was still terrified of Beedrill. Starmie was on it's last leg as it could not take another hit again.

"S-Starmie use Recover," stammered Misty.

"Not this time Misty," countered Anna. "Beedrill use Twinneedle to put Starmie down for the count."

'_Got it_,' acknowledged Beedrill as she let a barrage of needles fly at Starmie.

Starmie couldn't take the damage from Beedrill's Twinneedle attack and collapsed as it's gem flashed indicating that it couldn't fight anymore. Seel clapped that Anna had won. Violet face-palmed herself as she couldn't believe that Seel was clapping every time one of Misty's Pokémon were knocked out. Anna recalled her Beedrill with a smile on her face. After recalling her Beedrill, Anna began to feel a violent rumbling sound as did everyone else. All of a sudden a blast threw some debris from the west wall of the gym. Unfortunately Anna was struck by some smaller debris and was thrown in the gym's pool. Once the dust settled, three figures entered through the hole along with a medium-sized machine on wheels with two hoses sticking out of both directions.

"Prepare for trouble!" exclaimed the female figure as she entered through the hole that was created.

"And make it double,"added the male figure as he too entered through the hole and joined his partner in reciting their motto.

"Oh great not again," Anna huffed in annoyance as she tread water and then began to swim to the shore of the pool.

"Could you guys go away?" Ash demanded to to the familiar trio known as Team Rocket.

Misty had recovered from her shock and noticed Team Rocket with their machine about to do more damage to her gym.

"What the?" asked Misty glaring at Team Rocket.

"Alright Twerp, just for that, you'll be the first one to lose all your Pokémon and your life as well," snarled Jessie, the female member of the group.

"But first," began Meowth with his New York City accent, "we've got Water Pokémon in the pool we've gotta steal. Then get the Twerp's Pikachu."

"Right," agreed James. "Time to activate the vacuum machine." James began to turn on the vacuum machine just like the instructions told him to, but as he turned on the vacuum machine it started to blow the air and everything in its way. Even the pool wasn't safe to be in for Anna as she was about to get out of the pool.

"Not again!" exclaimed Anna as she was blown back into the pool and tossed around a bit

The members of Team Rocket were quite shocked to see their plan was already falling apart.

"James how do we turn this thing off?" Jessie asked James in a panic and fidgeting with the buttons on the machine.

Anna had enough of feeling like she was in a hurricane so she produced a Pokéball and said, "Come on out Clefairy." A pink fairy like Pokémon came out and landed on one of the islands in the pool.

"Clefairy, use your Metronome attack," Anna ordered Clefairy.

Clefairy gave a nervous nod and began to perform the Metronome attack. Once Clefairy's fingers began to glow, she became enveloped in electrical energy and charged at the vacuum machine striking it with precise accuracy a lot of power. The machine and exploded on the the human crooks and threw them out of the Cerulean gym.

"Looks like Team Rocket's blasting off again!" exclaimed the trio as they flew into sky and away from Cerulean City.

Misty walked over Anna and helped her out of the pool with badge in hand.

"Here Anna, won this Cascade badge as proof that you defeated the Cerulean gym," Misty said to a still soaking wet Anna. "I'm sure you remember what it does after I gave your brother his Cascade Badge."

"Yeah, I remember what it does," said Anna as she received her Cascade Badge. "Alright! I got the Cascade Badge!"

'_Yeah_!' cheered Clefairy and Wartortle.

"You know what, I wanna travel with you and your brother," Misty then said to Anna.

"That's great. Huh?" asked Anna as she was now dumbstruck at what Misty had said to her.

"I wanna travel travel with you guys," repeated Misty. "My biggest dream is to be a Water Pokémon master."

"That's a great dream to have," said Ash. "We'd be happy if you came with us."

'_I wanna go with you too_,' Seel said as he nudged Misty's ankle.

"Alright Seel, I'll take you with me," Misty said as she went get Seel's Pokéball.

After all the details were sorted out Ash, Anna, and Brock set out from Cerulean City with their newest traveling partner Misty.

"Well guys it's on to Vermillion City next," said Anna as she looked at their Pokénav.

"Well then what are we waiting for?" Ash asked with enthusiasm. "Let's get to Vermillion City!"

'_Yeah_!' agreed Pikachu.

* * *

In the background, the shadowy figure watched Ash and his travelling group from a distance.

"Well my friends," she said to her two Pokémon. "It's gonna be a long journey for us."

Her two Pokémon agreed and they set off following Ash and co from behind.

A/Ns: For the month of May this year, my partners and I are taking a break from working on Rise of Heroes for the time being. We'll get next chapter of Rise of Heroes sometime next month.


	9. The Nugget Bridge Challenge

Disclaimer: I don't own anything in the Pokemon saga save for my OCs for this retelling and it's about time I continued the story.

Pokemon: Rise of Heroes

The Nugget Bridge Challenge

By EmperorDraco7 and co-written by Lily Nadesico and NEBSparky86

Ash and co are at the Pokemon Mart, getting supplies for the up-coming trek to Vermillion City with their newest traveling companion Misty. Pikachu was taking a liking to the red-haired trainer, making her smile as she was getting along with the Electric-Type. "Okay…" began Anna, taking a look at her Town Map to see where Vermillion City was as well as how to get there. "It looks like Vermillion City is down south of here and we'll need to go through Route 5 and Route 6 in order to get there."

"Let's like we have some walking to do" said Ash, though he didn't mind that at all as it could mean they could get some training done for his and Anna's third Gym Battle then turned to his left. "So you decided to have Clefairy out of her Pokéball huh?"

"Yeah, I figured that I should give her some fresh air once in a while" she told her twin while stroking the top of Clefairy's head.

"Hopefully we won't be seeing those three again… In fact, I am surprised that they came after us at the Cerulean Gym."

Brock nodded his head then said. "It does make sense; after all we did interfere with their plans back at Mt. Moon so it would be fitting for them to want revenge for their defeat and the fact that their allies were arrested."

"Let them try…" scowled Misty, remembering when the Rocket Trio tried to steal the Pokemon at the Cerulean Gym. "We'll be ready if they come at us again!"

It took about 5 or 10 minutes before they got what they needed from the Market for their upcoming journey to Vermilion, though as they left the shop… it was then that Pikachu heard something. "Huh?" wondered Ash, taking notice to the look on his Electric Mouse's face. "Is something wrong Pikachu?"

'_I don't _know'…frowned Pikachu, not liking it one bit. '_Although I could have sworn I heard a voice not too far from here._' He and Clefairy soon turned to the left, to find out what he heard which promoted the four trainers to follow close behind. Fortunately it didn't take them too long before eventually coming across a house that looked badly damaged. _What the…_

Needless to say, the four trainers were shocked by the sight of it. "What could have happened?" asked Misty, a bit worried for whoever was living at the house. "Hope nobody got hurt."

"I don't know… but we better find out" answered Ash, witnessing a blue-haired woman with a serious expression on her face and wearing a police outfit speaking with a male and a female outside the door.

Ash slowly approached the blue haired woman in the police uniform with Anna following right behind her younger brother.

"Can I help you two?" the police woman asked Ash and Anna.

"What happened here?" asked Anna as her Clefairy leapt up and hung from her shoulder.

"Looks like someone trashed the house," observed Ash.

"Waaah! Officer Jenny!" exclaimed Brock as he charged up to the policewoman and nearly trampling Ash in the process.

"Ash!" exclaimed Anna as she peeled her brother off the pavement. "What was that for Brock?"

Brock hadn't paid attention to Anna's question as he gingerly took Officer Jenny's left hand, which caused her to be startled and had a small sweat drop on her forehead.

"How would you like to go on a date with me?" Brock asked Officer Jenny.

"By the time I get off, it'll probably be your bedtime," answered Officer Jenny as she got her hand out of Brock's light grasp. "Besides I don't even know if you're with the crook that broke into this family's house."

Brock blushed in embarrassment as he quickly stood up and showed a Boulder Badge identifying him as the Pewter City gym leader in his vest.

"And you two?" Officer Jenny asked Ash and Anna.

"Uh... well... um," stammered Ash as he looked everywhere for some form of ID until he got his Pokédex out.

Officer Jenny spotted Ash's Pokédex and snatched it out of his hand.

"This is what I'm looking for," Officer Jenny said with enthusiasm. "A Pokédex!"

Officer Jenny then scrolled through Ash's Pokédex and found what she was looking for.

"Ah, here we go," Officer Jenny said she looked through Ash's Pokédex.

'This Pokédex is property of Pokémon trainer Ash Ketchum,' chirped Dexter, Ash's Pokédex.

Anna then saw what Officer Jenny was talking about and pulled out her Pokédex and handed it to Officer, who returned Ash's Pokédex to him.

'This Pokédex is property of Pokémon trainer Anna Ketchum,' chirped Anna's Pokédex.

"Hmm..." Officer Jenny said, handing Anna's Pokédex back to her."Okay, you two seem to be clean. However, the fact remains that the people who live in this house have been robbed, and the culprit should be still around here."

"_Really_? _When did it happen_?" Anna's Clefairy asked, wondering if maybe they could do something to help apprehend the robber.

"Only a few minutes ago... therefore, the robber cannot have gone that far. At least, I hope that's the case... if what was inside that TM is what I fear it was, then he might have already gotten away with it."

"You mean, that a TM was stolen?" Misty asked in worry.

Brock frowned slightly. "I know of some people who might be interested in that... are you thinking the same thing as me, guys?" he asked the Ketchum twins.

Ash and Anna looked at each other and nodded. "Yeah... I get what you're saying, Brock! You mean, Team Rocket might still be at it, right?" the young boy said, adjusting his hat on his head.

Officer Jenny nodded. "Yes, Team Rocket is the most probable culprit for this crime." the policewoman answered. "From the way you talk about them, I'd say you already have had something to do with them."

"We did, actually..." was Anna's quick answer. "We were attacked by those guys when we were getting through the galleries of Mt. Moon, and they wanted to do something with the fossils they were trying to steal from there. Then, during my Gym battle with Misty here... two of those guys and a talking Meowth tried to get the jump on us. We beat them both times."

"Two of them and a talking Meowth, huh? That sounds like the notorious Jessie and James..." Officer Jenny answered. "They've been racking up quite the rep for themselves lately, even though they are a couple of clowns if you ask me. Anyway, good job on defeating them both times, but I need to warn you that they are not going to give up that easily. You are going to have a fight on your hands if you decide to go against Team Rocket."

"_Don_'_t worry about that_!" Pikachu answered. "_Ash and I can take anything that they send against us_!"

"_Same goes for me and Anna_!" Clefairy added in her high-pitched voice.

Jenny smiled at the young trainers' confidence. "Well, you sure seem to be fired up about it, and that's a good thing. Still, be careful and don't hesitate to call on us if you feel you're in over your heads. And by the way... if you feel you're up to it, would you like to join me in the search for this Team Rocket grunt and get him to justice?"

"You just need to ask us!" Ash answered, looking at Pikachu and giving him a thumbs-up sign, which the yellow mouse immediately returned. Anna and Clefairy nodded themselves, and even Misty and Brock decided they might as well help out.

"Ash and Anna helped me get the Cerulean Gym running again." the redhead stated. "The least I can do for them is help them out. Besides, if a crime happens in my town, that's my responsibility."

"Yes, count me in as well." Brock answered. "So, tell us, Officer Jenny... where do we start looking?"

The azure-haired policewoman winked. "Well, for starters, we might start looking at the house that was just robbed. We might find a few clues in there!"

"Oh, will you just look at what those scoundrels did!" the man living in the house that had just been "visited" by Team Rocket was exclaiming, looking at the toppled furniture and ruined floor. "They stole a precious TM that I was going to teach my Pokemon… that thing cost a bundle, it really did!"

Ash and Anna widened their eyes slightly; as they surveyed the devastation Team Rocket had wrought in the small house. "This is terrible…" muttered the female Ketchum as her shock turned into anger. "How could this have happened?"

"I don't know…" he told his sister, his eyes darkening upon looking at the damage that was done to the house before turning his attention back towards the man. "Don't worry, we can try and find the thief and bring the TM they stole back safe and sound."

"He's right…" added Anna, knowing what her brother intends to do and figured that he wouldn't need to do this alone. "Besides, they couldn't have gone that far and I doubt they could have disappeared without a trace either."

The man didn't know what to say as both Brock and Misty joined with the two younger trainers though the ones responsible for the theft are well known to everyone in the Kanto Region. "Very well then…" he said to the four. "Be careful though as if they were able to do this much damage to my home then they would bring harm to you."

"We'll manage" explained Brock, his face remaining completely serious. "Ash, Anna and I dealt with them before at Mt. Moon a while back and we helped Misty stop three certain members from stealing the Pokemon at the Cerulean Gym."

'_Though they were also at Mt. Moon along with the other members we fought there and from the looks of it, they're pretty _persistent,' said Pikachu while Clefairy nodded. '_Not to mention that I can smell where the theft went and it starts right from where the hole was made_.'

"Very well, I thank you but please… be careful…"

Misty gave the man a smile and said. "We will, we appreciate your concern never the less." She looked at the others then back at him before continuing. "We'll be back as soon as we recover your missing TM, you can count on that."

Suddenly Clefairy heard something speeding past the hole and looked to see what it was, yet there was nothing there. "Clefairy…" began Anna. "Is something wrong?"

'_That's strange… I thought I heard a Ninetales from behind us_…'frowned the Normal-Type, wondering about what she heard and if it was another Pokemon. '_Maybe I'm just hearing things_.'

'_Actually you weren't the only one_,'reassured Pikachu, walking towards the female Pokemon with him. '_I heard it too and it actually sounded familiar_,_ like it was someone we've met before_.'

'_You don't think that it was_…'

'_No clue, lets not worry about that right now_,'said Pikachu, confused by the voice and mentally asked himself if the Crimson Fox was nearby if it really was the Ninetales they've seen with the mysterious vigilante back at Mt. Moon. '_We need to focus on a more important matter_,_ we can deal with what we heard later okay_?'

Clefairy simply nodded her head; maybe Pikachu was right as they needed to help the man of this house for the time being. "Okay, so now where do go?" asked Ash.

"Didn't Gary mention something visiting Bill?" Anna asked Ash as her answer.

"I think he did," answered Ash. "He mentioned something about this Bill guy creating the Pokemon Storage System."

"That's right," added Brock. "It's really handy to have especially since you wouldn't want more Pokémon with you than you can carry."

"That's right, I think I heard you can only carry up to... six Pokémon, I think," said Anna as she added her two cents.

"That's right," Misty said with a slight nod, "the rest of the Pokémon go into storage in Bill's PC Storage network."

"So where is this Bill person?" asked Ash as they headed out of Cerulean City.

"He lives just north of here on Cerulean Cape," answered Misty. "We just go up Nugget Bridge and head east on Route 25."

"Awesome," Anna said with enthusiasm.

Anna then started heading towards Nugget Bridge before Misty grabbed her shirt collar.

"Hold on a minute," Misty said as she let go Anna's shirt collar, "There are trainers on the Nugget Bridge and they'll challenge you."

"That just means we'll be training our Pokémon and getting them stronger," Ash said with a grin on his face.

"Well said little brother," replied Anna as she clapped Ash in the back.

Misty looked at Anna and Ash and gave a slight huff of annoyance.

"Those two are certainly interesting, don't you think Misty?" Brock asked Misty as they both looked at Ash and Anna.

"You can say that again," answered Misty.

The group headed to the Nugget Bridge and trainers from all over Kanto challenging the top trainers of the bridge. Ash certainly had sparkles in his eyes as he was eager to compete in the Nugget Bridge Challenge.

"Alright Pikachu, we're gonna compete to be the best in the Nugget Bridge Challenge," Ash said to his yellow mouse companion. "Are you ready?"

'_Of course I_'_m ready_,' answered Pikachu.

"How about you Clefairy, you with me?" Anna asked her pink Normal-Type Pokémon.

'_Bring it on Anna_!' exclaimed Clefairy as she pumped her fist up ready for the challenge.

"Then let's go!" exclaimed Anna as she ran to the bridge eager to challenge the trainers.

'_Come on Ash_, _let_'_s go_!' exclaimed Pikachu as he got off Ash's shoulder and followed after Anna and Clefairy.

"Hey wait for me!" exclaimed Ash as he ran after Anna, Clefairy and Pikachu.

'Yup, definitely an interesting pair of siblings,' Misty and Brock both thought with a sweat drop on their head.

* * *

Nugget Bridge was a long wooden bridge crossing the river running right at the north of Cerulean City, going towards a large mountain range. To Ash and Anna, however, the most interesting sight were no doubt the trainers who were gathering on the sides of the bridge, ready to take on all comers. They were all around the twins' age or a little older, and all had their Pokéballs ready at their sides. Ash and Anna knew they had to take them all on, in order to find the Team Rocket member who had stolen the TM from that house in Cerulean City, and if this was a chance to train their Pokemon, so much the better!

"Okay then, Anna… how about we share trainers?" Ash proposed, pointing to the first trainer waiting on the bridge. "I'll take on the ones to the right, while you face those on the left, is that a deal?"

"That's a nice idea, Ash! Clefairy and I will surprise you, you can bet on it!" the girl answered, adjusting her hat on her head. "Very well… why don't we make a bet, then? First one to reach that Team Rocket grunt, gets first dibs on the prize! Are you okay with it?"

"If that's a challenge, sis… that you damn better believe that I accept it!" Ash answered. The two siblings high-fived each other as they walked towards Nugget Bridge, and they turned and nodded to each other before walking up to their first challenge… which, in Ash's case, was a young boy dressed in white shirt, shorts and sandals, with a straw hat n his head and carrying a net and a small cage – obviously a Bug Catcher. With a confident smile, Ash and Pikachu approached the first challenger, and the boy tipped his hat to him in a salute.

"Hello there! Guess this is Nugget Bridge, huh? If so, I have come to take the challenge!" Ash greeted the young trainer. Right behind him, Pikachu already had a smile on his face, and his lightning-shaped tail was already beginning to sparkle. However, the young Bug Catcher didn't seem to be all that impressed…

"Hmmm… I've never seen you around here! You must be one of those travelling trainers, huh?" he answered. "Well, that electric mouse doesn't impress the heck outta me, fella. Prepare to get your butt kicked! Come out and play… Kakuna!"

With a buzzing noise, Weedle's first evolved form came out of the Bug Catcher's Pokéball and stood on the bridge, ready to take on Ash's Pokemon. Pikachu was already starting to walk towards his opponent… however, much to his surprise, Ash told him to stay back, at least for now.

"Wait, little buddy… I know you would like to fight, but I think it's high time I trained some of my other Pokemon as well…" he said, before turning to Pikachu with an apologetic smile. "Sorry… but only training one or two Pokemon wouldn't be a very good idea; I'd be left without any other good Pokemon to fall back to in case things went south. Hope you aren't angry about that…"

"_Well, okay…_" Pikachu answered with a shrug. He did seem a little disappointed, but he understood his trainer's point. "_Just make sure you leave some to me…_"

"Got it, buddy!" Ash answered, before picking up a Pokéball and sending his first Pokemon in. "Okay, Rattata! Do your best!"

"_Here I come!_" the Normal-type mouse Pokemon squeaked, appearing in the battlefield and squatting down on all fours as he got ready to lunge at Kakuna. "_I'm ready whenever you are, Ash!_"

"That's good to know! Let's go!" Ash answered, just as the Bug Catcher began with his first attack.

"Let's do it, Kakuna! Start off with a Poison Sting!" the younger trainer said. The crysalis Pokemon complied and shot a small poisonous dart at Ash's Rattata, but the mouse was too fast to be hit like that, and quickly sidestepped the attack.

"Good job, Rattata! Now, before he can attack again… use Focus Energy!" Ash ordered. With a cunning smile, Rattata closed his eyes and muttered something to himself as if trying to psych himself up, and for a short second, a faint aura of energy could be seen flashing around him.

The Bug Catcher frowned a little, understanding that the next hit could have been a dangerous critical, as Focus Energy increases the likeliness of such attacks. "Hmm… okay, Kakuna, let's make things harder on him! Use String Shot to hold that Rattata in place!"

A few silky strands came out of what could pass as Kakuna's mouth and wrapped themselves around Rattata's front legs, keeping him from moving as fast as he would have liked. However, this didn't annoy him too much, and neither did Ash, who already knew what to do in such a situation.

"Never mind that, Rattata… use Quick Attack!" Ash ordered. Rattata squeaked an affirmative and dashed forward, ignoring the sticky strands around his paws and hitting Kakuna with a powerful shoulder slam before the chrysalis-like Pokemon could do anything more! Kakuna was thrown backwards and ended up sprawled on the ground, but managed to pick himself up as the Bug Catcher gritted his teeth in disappointment. In his haste, he had forgotten that Quick Attack always goes first, regardless of the opponent's speed and ignoring any speed-reducing factor.

"Ouch… well, you are no pushover, that's for sure…" the Bug Catcher stated. "But I haven't even begun fighting yet… Kakuna, use Harden! We're not making things any easier for these guys!"

Kakuna immediately complied, his outer shell hardening before Ash's Rattata could throw another attack… and when the mouse Pokemon executed a Tackle attack, he only managed to put a dent in the opponent's outer shell. "Well done, Kakuna! Now, use Poison Sting again!"

Once again, Kakuna shot a poisoned dart at Ash's Rattata, and this time, the Mouse Pokemon was not fast enough to avoid it and was hit on the shoulder, squeaking in pain and surprise and staggering a little... however, he luckily managed to avoid getting poisoned, and was up and back on guard a few seconds later. Ash decided that it was time to stop playing around and end the battle right there and then.

"Are you alright, Rattata?" Ash asked, to which the Mouse Pokemon answered with a nod of the head.

"_Don't worry, Ash… I managed not to get poisoned! I'm still in top shape!_" he answered.

Ash smiled slightly. "Good… then, let's wrap this up! Use Hyper Fang on Kakuna!"

Rattata dashed towards Kakuna before the Cocoon Pokemon could attempt anything else, and his tiny fangs clamped shut on the opponent's midsection, causing Kakuna's eyes to comically bulge out in pain before it fell to the ground and fainted.

"Crap!" muttered the Bug Catcher, recalling his Bug/Poison-Type and switched Pokéballs soon afterwards. "Don't get too comfortable, you've only won round one of this battle… now comes round two, go Metapod!" He sent out Caterpie's evolved form to take on Ash.

"Rattata, return now!" he returned Rattata to his Pokéball and then took out Mankey's Pokéball before releasing the Fighting-Type onto the bridge while hearing it make monkey sounds. "Let's go Mankey!"

The Bug Catcher scowled at this and said. "What are you thinking? You realize Fighting-Type attack won't be very effect against Bug-Types and that is definitely going to cost you big time! Metapod, use String Shot!" The Cocoon Pokemon simply shot out silk at the Pig Monkey.

"Quick Mankey, dodge and use Fury Swipe!" ordered Ash to which Mankey managed to get out of the way and jumped at Metapod, proceeding with scratching at the Bug-Type a few times. "Now use Scratch!"

"Not so fast, Metapod use Harden!" commanded the Bug Catcher as Metapod hardened its shell before Mankey's attack collided.

_The hell?_ exclaimed Mankey in anger, a vein pulsing on his forehead as he glared at his opponent after his Scratch attack hit the hardened shell.

"Good, now use Tackle attack!" Metapod jumped straight at Mankey and hit him dead on, causing him to land on his back. This made Ash a bit worried about his Pokemon when that happened.

"Can you get up?" he asked, before the Fighting-Type got back onto his feet and made sure nothing was broken.

_Alright, let's try this again… this time with a little less fail…_

"Okay, Mankey time for Focus Energy!" Mankey nodded and began getting pumped up as he needed to be ready for when the Bug-Type was to use Harden against them again so they needed to do something big. "Let's try Scratch again!"

"String shot to stop them in their tracks!" countered the Bug Catcher with Metapod using another String Shot, this time hitting Mankey and reducing his speed. "Now use Tackle at full force!"

Ash saw the Cocoon Pokemon charge at Mankey, though he needed to wait till just the right moment to strike and once close enough. "Mankey, use your Karate Chop!" The Pig Monkey's eyes glared as he performed a powerful Karate Chop on Metapod's head.

"What the…"

"Now grab hold of Metapod and use Seismic Toss!" yelled Ash, with the Fighting-Type grabbing Metapod and jumped into the air for a short time before spinning around, slamming the opponent's Pokemon onto the ground below. When the smoke cleared, Metapod's eyes were swirls as it laid defeated. "Alright Mankey, you did it!"

Remaining silent, the Bug Catcher withdrew his Pokemon and couldn't believe that he lost to his opponent. "You're really not that bad" he said, despite what had happened earlier. "However, you still have four more of us to defeat before you can get the fabulous prize."

"Yeah, I know" explained Ash with a smile. "Still, that was some battle and maybe someday we'll face each other again."

"Maybe… The name's Cale by the way…"

* * *

Meanwhile, Anna was preparing for her own battle… one against a young Lass who was looking quite excited. "So you're here for the fabulous prize that we're handing out to those who beat this bridge huh?" she asked with a smile. "You'll have to get passed me first? So you better be ready, I choose you Pidgey!"

A familiar Normal/Flying-Type Pokemon was sent into battle and Anna smiled back at her opponent then said. "Don't worry, I'm ready to battle and I'm going to win too!" She brought out her own Pokéball. "Come on out Nidoran!"

Her Poison Pin Pokemon came out with a cute look on her face as she landed with elegance and turned to see who she was going up against.

"Are you ready Nidoran?" Anna asked her Poison Pin Pokémon.

'_Bring it on_,' answered an excited Nidoran.

"Go Pidgey, use Gust!" ordered the Lass.

The Lass's Pidgey began whip up a nasty gust of wind directed it at Nidoran. "Dodge it Nidoran and use Poison Sting," countered Anna as her Poison-Type Pokémon was able to side step the Gust attack and aimed her Poison Sting at the Lass's Pidgey.

"Don't let it hit you," replied the Lass. "Use Sand Attack to stop that Poison Sting."

Pidgey landed and kicked up at the Poison Sting in hopes to stop the attack.

"Just what we wanted you to do," Anna said under her breath as she gave a slight grin, then she turned to her Pokemon. "Nidoran, use Fury Swipes," she ordered and Nidoran was all too glad to follow that order as she caught on to what her trainer was going for. She went in and made contact with Pidgey causing critical damage during the fierce assault on Pidgey.

"Now use Double Kick on Pidgey," ordered Anna.

Nidoran followed up with hard hitting Double Kick that knocked out Pidgey as it couldn't make a come back. The Lass recalled her fallen Pokémon to its Pokéball. "Sorry Pidgey, you did your best," she said to the fallen Pokémon in it's Pokéball before turning to Anna. "Alright then, time to fight poison with poison. Go Nidoran!"

Out of the lass's second Pokéball came out a Poison Pin Pokémon exactly like Anna's Nidoran. "Time to see who's Nidoran is better," commented the Lass. "Nidoran use you Double Kick on that Nidoran."

"That's really dumb," commented Anna as she knew that the Nidoran's Double Kick would not do much damage to her own Nidoran. "Nidoran use you Fury Swipes before her Nidoran can use Double Kick.

'_Got it_,' Anna's Nidoran said as she charged at the lass and quickly went to work on the Lass's Nidoran with her Fury Swipes.

"Two can play that game," the Lass said in a cold tone. "Nidoran use **your** Fury Swipes." The Lass's Nidoran recovered from vicious Fury Swipes from Anna's Nidoran and unleashed her own Fury Swipes attack on Anna's Nidoran. Anna's Nidoran got back up and without orders from Anna used her Fury Swipes attack again. Both female Nidorans exchanged Fury Swipes back and forth for a few minutes as other trainers watched both female Nidorans in an interesting Meowth fight. The Lass's Nidoran couldn't keep up with exchanging Fury Swipes attacks and fell in defeat with circles in her eyes.

"Thank you Nidoran, you did a great job," the Lass said with a small sigh as she recalled her fallen Nidoran. "Now Oddish, you're on."

A Pokemon that Anna had never seen was sent out into the battle field, leading to the brunette to look it up on her Pokédex.

_Oddish, the Weed Pokémon. It may be mistaken for a clump of weeds. If you yank it out of the ground, it shrieks horribly._

"Nidoran, can you keep going?" Anna asked her Nidoran as she saw it huffing and trying to stay standing.

'_I_'_m_... _fine_,' answered Nidoran as she tried to remain standing.

"No, you're not Nidoran," said Anna as she pulled out Nidoran's Pokéball and recalled her Nidoran. "You need a good rest. Go Beedrill, you're on." The giant hornet hopped out of his Pokéball and buzzed fiercely as he prepared for the fight, while the Weed Pokemon shook the clump of leaves he had on top of his head, causing a strange, glittering dust to spread out around him.

"A Beedrill, huh?" the Lass said, narrowing her eyes a little. "Fine then… we'll see how strong he is! Oddish, attack with Sweet Scent!"

"_Sure!_" the Grass / Poison type answered, shaking his leaves once again and emitting a translucent cloud of green pollen that floated around Oddish and then towards Beedrill. The Bug / Poison type seemed to freeze for a while as a mellow arena flowed into his nostrils… then, the huge wasp staggered backwards, looking like he was drunk.

"Beedrill, are you okay? What's going on?" Anna asked, having never seen that move before.

"_I… dunno…_" the giant wasp buzzed, trying to regain his bearings. "_I felt such a nice smell… and now I feel strange…_"

"Hehee… that's only natural!" the Lass answered with a slight smirk. "What you and your Beedrill have experienced is the Sweet Scent attack, which distracts Pokemon and makes it more difficult for them to avoid other attacks! Like this one, for instance… Oddish, use Stun Spore!"

The bulb-like Pokemon nodded and spread his leaves outwards, releasing another cloud of glittering dust and sending it straight at Beedrill, who could not avoid it and was struck head on. The giant wasp did not seem harmed, but his movements became sluggish, as if he was struggling to move his limbs…

"_This is bad… I can't move well…_" Beedrill buzzed, landing on the bridge as he struggled to beat his wings.

Anna gritted her teeth, knowing that she was now in trouble. "I know… that was a Stun Spore attack, which paralyzes the victim." She commented, to which the Lass nodded astutely.

"Precisely! I see you've done your homework, girl!" the Lass stated. "Which means that now your Beedrill's speed has been greatly reduced, and there's a chance he might not be able to attack!"

"That's what we're going to see!" Anna answered. "Don't give up, Beedrill, you can beat this! Use Twineedle!"

"_O… Okay, Anna, I'm going to try!_" Beedrill answered, struggling to raise his stinger-arms and pointing both of them towards Oddish before charging head on at him. The Weed Pokemon didn't seem impressed, and neither did his trainer as Beedrill awkwardly tried to run at them…

"You're being ridiculous, you know?" the Lass said. "Oddish, use Acid!"

The strange Grass / Poison type opened his small mouth and shot out a glob of a dense, sticky purple liquid that hit Beedrill before he could get close enough, and the giant hornet let out a buzz of pain at he staggered for a while… but, by sheer force of will, he got back on his feet and covered the rest of the distance that separated him for his opponent, striking him with his stinger-arms and sending him tumbling to the ground!

"Great job, Beedrill!" Anna cheered, as Beedrill smiled – as much as he could with the mandibles he had – and tried to regain altitude. He managed to lift himself a few feet off the ground before the paralysis effect forced him back to the ground.

"_Thanks, Anna… I hope I can keep it up, though…_" he buzzed, shaking his head. "_I feel like I've been in a roller coaster… and that Acid attack left me weakened…_"

Anna gritted her teeth and nodded at that, knowing that the Acid attack had the possible after-effect of lowering the target's Special Defense. She had to wrap this battle up soon, or Beedrill could have been in real trouble.

Annoyed by Beedrill's sudden comeback, Anna's opponent decided to keep up with the pressure. "Nicely done, I have to admit… but you won't get a second chance! Attack with Razor Leaf, Oddish!"

The Grass / Poison type shook the dizziness out of him before making a huge swipe with the leaves on top of his head. Several of them detached and flew like darts towards Beedrill, who was too slow to dodge and could barely put up his stinger-arms to defend himself. The razor-sharp leaves bounced against the Bug / Poison's defense, doing little damage but managing to slow him down.

"Be careful, Beedrill!" Anna exclaimed. "A Razor Leaf attack? I never knew an Oddish could learn that…"

"So you don't know everything, after all…" the Lass said sarcastically. "Well, an Oddish can't learn Razor Leaf in fact, but he can use it as an Egg Move!" Anna and Beedrill looked at each other in confusion, having never heard of that before. "An Egg Move?" Anna asked. "I know Pokémon are born from eggs, but what does that have to do with…"

"Egg Moves are moves a Pokémon is born with, on the condition that his or her father knows them." The Lass explained. "You should know that Pokemon can breed even with different species, if they belong to compatible Egg groups."

Anna nodded. "Hmm, I see. In other words, they are moves than can be inherited. Thanks for the explanation…" Anna answered, before smiling cunningly at her opponent. "And thanks for giving my Beedrill the time he needed to regain his bearings! Beedrill, use Fury Attack!"

"_Right away!_" the hornet-like Pokemon exclaimed. With a sudden burst of power, Beedrill dashed at his opponent and began striking Oddish with a series of thrusts from his stingers, both on his arms and on his abdomen! The Lass gasped as she realized her mistake – by explaining to Anna how the Egg Move system worked, she had given her Beedrill ample time to make a comeback!

A series of blows from Beedrill's stinger-arms left Oddish dazed… and the giant hornet ended the battle by slamming his shoulder against Oddish's frail body, sending it to the ground with spirals in his eyes. The Lass widened her eyes for a while, before sighing and admitting defeat.

"Don't worry about that, Oddish… you did a great job anyway!" the Lass thanked her Pokemon as she recalled him in his Pokéball. Then, she sighed and turned to Anna. "I must say, you are skilled. It's not everyday you meet such a good trainer around here… I think you can actually beat the Nugget Bridge challenge!"

"Thanks… I just try to do my best!" Anna answered with a wink, as she got close to her Beedrill, who was panting from the lingering effects of Stun Spore. She took a small bottle of green liquid from her backpack, and gave it to Beedrill, and the giant wasp quickly swallowed the Paralyze Heal, feeling better already after a gulp. "Here, Beedrill… thank you for your help, you did a great job there!" Anna thanked her Pokemon. "And Nidoran as well! I'm really proud of you!"

"_Thank you, Anna!_" the giant wasp answered, spreading his wings as he took to the air once again. "_I feel ready to take on all comers!_"

Anna giggled. "Me too, but try not to overdo it, okay?" she answered, before turning back to the Lass. "By the way, do you happen to know anything about the other challengers?"

"Not really…" the Lass answered with a sigh. "Though I've seen a strange guy dressed in black, with a capital R drawn on his chest, who was running to the other side of the bridge. He looked like he was trying to hide something…"

"Hmmm, I see…" Anna concluded, knowing that it was obviously the Team Rocket agent who had stolen that TM from that house in Cerulean City. "Thanks for the heads-up! I'm going to complete the challenge now… and better luck next time!"

"Thanks! Good luck to you too!" the Lass answered with a light smile on her face. "My name is Ali by the way and I hope we see each other again sometime." added as Anna and Beedrill walked away for the next battle…

"_Hmm… that Oddish sure was something…_" Anna thought to herself

* * *

"Phew… and that does it for the last contestant!" Ash sighed, wiping his forehead as he recalled his worn-out Rattata in his Pokéball. The battles had been rather hard, even with him and Anna taking turns, and now pretty much all of their Pokemon were tired, except for Pikachu and Clefairy. Still, they had managed to get to the other side of the bridge, and the two siblings were now greeting each other. "Hey Anna, how did it go?"

"It was tough but we managed to win our battles" said the brunette, glad that they were both able to reach the end of the bridge. "How did you guys do?"

"We did pretty well, plus it's great that the two of us managed to get to the end of the challenge… though right now all of my Pokemon except for Pikachu are exhausted."

"I know how that feels…" she told him with a frown. "The only Pokemon that I have that isn't worn-out from the battles is my Clefairy."

Ash frowned at this and was about to say something when they heard clapping not too far from where they stood. "Well I must say it is a surprising turn of events to see two trainers having defeated our five contest trainers" began a mysterious trainer with a grin on his face. "Never the less, you have won and as such here is your fabulous prize!"

Ash and Anna were surprised when they were each given a rare gold nugget from the mysterious trainer though for some reason they had a bad feeling about him as well but they couldn't figure out why. "Thanks… I guess.." said Anna, accepting the prize she and her brother received. "Anyway, there is something we need to ask you…"

"Ask away…" grinned the mysterious trainer then examined both younger trainers in front of him. "By the way, would you like to join Team Rocket? We could use strong trainers like you to help us."

This caught the two off guard. "Wait, you're part of Team Rocket?" exclaimed Ash, not wanting to believe this. "We're looking for a member that stole a TM from a house at Cerulean City!"

"Is that so?"

"That's right!" snapped Anna with a darkened expression on her face as she spoke. "My brother and I are looking for him so we can take back the stolen TM, we know he couldn't have gone too far."

"Well you've already found him!" he grinned again, taking off his disguise and revealing who he really is. "A shame really, had you simply accepted my offer you two would have become high ranking members of Team Rocket though I may reconsider what I'm about to do if you change your mind."

"No way!" yelled Ash, scowling at the thief in front of him and Anna nodded, not liking the idea of joining a group of criminals.

"Very well, then you leave me no choice… It's time for me to make an offer you can't refuse, let's go!" he released his Ekans and his Zubat into battle.

Ash remained silent at this for a moment and turned his attention towards his Pikachu then said. "Alright buddy, you ready to go?"

_You bet I am! _replied Pikachu, jumping to the field.

"You too Clefairy." smiled Anna. "It's time we teach him a lesson about stealing things that don't belong to him." The Normal-Type nodded and joined Pikachu's side for the fight that is about to take place.

"I admire your courage but unfortunately I am not like those weak trainers that you defeated earlier" frowned the Team Rocket member, not amusing by their determination by any means. "Zubat use Supersonic on them and Ekans, use Poison Sting on that little rat!"

They remained silent and proceeded with their attacks, though Pikachu wasn't happy with being called a rat. "Dodge now!" ordered both Ketchums and watched their respective Pokemon quickly avoiding the Supersonic and Poison Sting attacks. "Pikachu, use Thundershock on Zubat!" commanded Ash.

"Clefairy, try a Doubleslap on Ekans!" shouted Anna. While Pikachu did a powerful jolt of Electricity onto the Flying/Poison-Type's body, Clefairy jumped at the Snake Pokemon straight ahead and proceeded in slapping him across the face.

"You think you those attacks are gonna knock us down?" challenged the Rocket Grunt.

"Zubat, use Air Cutter and then fly out of reach."

"Not so fast," countered Anna. "Clefairy, use Gravity!"

"Crap, not Gravity!" exclaimed Rocket Grunt, gritting his teeth as he watched in horror as his Zubat fall to the ground.

"Alright Pikachu use Quick Attack on Zubat," Ash ordered his companion.

'_Got it_,' replied Pikachu as he rapidly charged at the helpless Zubat.

Clefairy, Doubleslap on Ekans again," Anna ordered her Clefairy.

'_I_'_m on it_,' said Clefairy as she went in behind Pikachu unleashed a hard Doubleslap on Ekans again.

"Pikachu trade with Clefairy and use Iron Tail on Ekans," Ash ordered his trusty Pokémon.

'_Got it_,' acknowledged Pikachu as his tail became hard as iron and swung it at Ekans, effectively him out while Clefairy then used Doubleslap to finish off the already weakened Zubat.

"Zubat, no!" exclaimed the Rocket Grunt.

"Pathetic," said the Rocket Grunt's partner. "I knew that couldn't count on you. You're weak. Guess I have to clean up your mess." A twinkle was shown to his partner as if it were some sign.

The Rocket's partner produced a disc that had been stolen from Cerulean City.

'_That_'_s the stolen TM_!' exclaimed Clefairy. Ash and Anna were shocked to see the Rocket's partner had the stolen TM. However as the two were focused on the Rocket's partner, they were unaware that the Rocket Grunt had wormed his way behind the young trainers and pick-pocketed their Pokédexes.

Watching from a considerable distance, the shadowy figure that sabotaged a vacuum machine in Cerulean City saw the Rocket Grunt stealing the Pokédexes.

"Looks like those two will need a Pokédex each," she said to her Hoenn Psychic Pokémon, Gardevoir.

'_It appears that way_,' agreed the Psychic Pokémon as she watched with her trainer.

"That's the TM you have stolen from that house in Cerulean!" Anna exclaimed, glaring fiercely at the Rocket grunt. "Give it back! Or else, we'll force you to give it back!"

However, her order went unheard, and the Rocket grunt laughed it off. "Hehehee… you sure can talk the talk, little girl!" he answered. "But let's see if you can back it up with your skills! Come out… Machop and Drowzee!"

Two Pokemon appeared in front of Pikachu and Clefairy – one of them was a squat yet well-built Pokemon with a pale blue skin, a small crest on his head, and powerful muscles all over his body, as well as a somewhat frog-like face, who clasped his fists together and stood ready for the battle. The other looked like a tapir with tired-looking eyes, short arms with three-fingered hands, and the upper half of his body was yellow, while the lower half was brown, with a wave separating the two halves.

"Those two Pokemon are… a Machop and a Drowzee!" Ash stated in slight surprise, before reaching for his Pokedex in order to scan them… but his hands grabbed nothing but thin air! "Huh? What? Where… where did my Pokedex go?" he exclaimed, with a mounting feeling of dread as he lowered his gaze… and saw that his Pokedex was in fact gone! And not just his own… he could see that even Anna didn't have her own Pokedex any more! "What? Our Pokedex! Where are they?"

"I... I can't find my Pokedex anywhere!" Anna exclaimed, while Pikachu and Clefairy turned to the two siblings in worry. Thinking that his partner had done a decent job after all, the Rocket grunt smirked and sent his Pokemon to attack before his opponents were ready!

"Well… that's too bad for you, kids! Ready or not, here I come!" he exclaimed. "Machop, use Karate Chop on Clefairy!"

"_With pleasure!_" the Fighting-type Pokemon answered, before launching himself at the surprised Clefairy with an hand raised! Pikachu managed to place himself between Clefairy and his opponent, and got hit with a powerful chop in the side, squeaking in pain before being thrown to the ground!

"Pikachu!" Ash exclaimed, sighing in relief when his Electric-type starter climbed to his feet again. However, his relief was short-lived as the Rocket grunt gave another order, this time to his Drowzee!

"Well, if that's how you want it…" he said. "Drowzee… use Hypnosis on that stupid little fairy!"

"_Okay…_" Drowzee exclaimed in a sleepy voice. His eyes lit up with a strange blue light, and Clefairy widened her eyes in surprise as her limbs became stiff… and she soon fell asleep, entranced by the Psychic Pokemon's eldritch powers.

"Oh, no… Clefairy! This is bad…" Anna exclaimed, knowing that her brother's Pikachu was the only available Pokemon left. "Ash, I'm afraid I won't be able to help until my Clefairy wakes up! Can your Pikachu fight those two?"

"I'm not sure he can, Anna…" Ash answered… but Pikachu was not going to give up that easily, and he quickly brought his guard up again, ready to face the two enemies!

"_Don't worry, Ash! I'm not going down that easily!_" he answered, causing Machop to chuckle softly. He, Drowzee and their trainer were certain that he alone was not going to do much against them….

"Hehehee… let's see how you manage to do this!" the Rocket grunt said. "Drowzee, use Disable on that Pikachu!"

"Quick, Pikachu, attack them with Thundershock!" Ash answered. Pikachu complied, causing his cheeks to crackle with power… but just then, Drowzee took on a meditating stance, and the electricity on Pikachu's cheeks fizzled out harmlessly!

"_Ugh… sorry, I wasn't fast enough…_" Pikachu murmured.

"And now… Machop, wrap this up with a nice Low Kick!" the Rocket grunt ordered with a dispassionate look on his face. Machop raced at Pikachu and thrw a kick at his shins… but this time, Ash and the electric mouse were not going to take this laying down!

"Not so fast, pal!" the young trainer exclaimed. "Pikachu… strike back with Mega Kick!"

"_Sure!_" Pikachu exclaimed, launching himself at Machop as well. "_Just because I can't use my electric attacks, doesn't mean I'm helpless! Let me show you!_"

"_Tough words, mouse!_" Machop exclaimed. Both Pokemon executed a turnabout kick, aiming at each other's chest… and struck at the same time! There was a deafening crash, and both Pikachu and Machop were thrown backwards and knocked down, to the point were the Fighting-type rolled on the ground and back to his trainer!

"Well, I must say you aren't all that helpless, after all." The Rocket agent smirked. "But don't think it can last much longer! Soon, your Pikachu will tire out and…"

Machop suddenly grunted in pain and stiffened, feeling a slight shock running through his body… and the Rocket grunt halted and gritted his teeth, understanding too late that Pikachu's Static ability, capable of paralyzing any Pokemon that came in contact with him, had kicked in.

"_Ha! Joke's on you!_" Pikachu smirked as he picked himself up. While Machop staggered backwards in an attempt to reorganize himself, Drowzee turned to Pikachu in anger and used a Confusion attack, lifting the yellow mouse off the ground, and hurling him to the other side of the battlefield, where he landed with a squeak. Pikachu stood up again, but this time, he was feeling dizzy, and he was not sure whether he could keep up with all the attacks…

"Pikachu, don't give up! You're the only one who can help right now!" Ash cheered his on. The yellow mouse nodded, taking a look at Clefairy who was still sleeping… and steeled his resolve, launching himself at Drowzee in an unexpected display of power and speed! The Psychic Pokemon was surprised and tried to back away… but Ash and Pikachu were faster than he and the Rocket grunt thought, and they were unprepared for Ash's next order! "That's it, Pikachu! And now… attack with Iron Tail!"

"_Here I go!_" Pikachu squeaked, doing a quick pirouette and smacking Drowzee in the face with it! The hypnotic Pokemon fell to the ground, and the Rocket grit his teeth in anger as he tried to get his Machop to move!

"Dammit… come on, Machop, get up! Move!" he ordered. "Do it now, before…"

"_Before… I wake up, you mean?_" Clefairy exclaimed as she slowly stood up and rubbed her eyes. "_Sorry for the delay… I'm not going to fall for the same trick anymore!_"

"Clefairy!" Anna cheered. "That's good… now, let's give those guys the what-for! Are you in, bro?"

"You bet, sis!" Ash answered. "Pikachu… use Quick Attack on Machop and take him down!"

"Clefairy! Attack Drowzee with Doubleslap!" Anna ordered. The two Pokemon dashed towards their respecive opponents, and the Rocket grunt widened his eyes in horror as he tried to get his Pokemon to strike back!

"This is bad… Machop, use Karate Chop again! And you, Drowzee… use Hypnosis!" he exclaimed in a desperate attempt to fight. Machop tried to defend himself, in spite of his paralysis, and Drowzee picked himself up from the ground…

"_I will… try…_" Machop said, raising his hand… but both he and Drowzee were too slow, and they were hit at the same time! Pikachu punched Machop in the face, almost too fast for the eye to see, while Clefairy grabbed Drowzee and started slapping him silly, putting more and more power with each hit! As soon as they were done, both Machop and Drowzee were on the ground, stunned and unconscious.

"Ugh… damn kids…" the Rocket grunt said before Pikachu performed a Thunder Wave .attack to stop the thief in his tracks before he can escape "Arrgh! Gloat about this victory all you want… my partner still has your Pokedexes! We've still won this round…"

Ash and Anna remembered how they were missing their electronic devices and grit their teeth in anger, while Pikachu and Clefairy got ready to attack the Rocket grunt and shock or slap the answer out of him… but a dull thud from their left drew their attention, and the two Ketchum twins and their Pokemon turned that way. Just in time to see the first grunt, spirals in his eyes and a stunned expression on his face, lying down on the ground, a beautiful fox-like Pokemon standing on top of him in a nonchalant expression. It was a huge fox with a shining white fur, a tuft of hair on top of her head, and beautiful, bewitching eyes, not to mention nine long and luscious tails upon which a small blue flame was flickering!

"What?" the second grunt shouted in disbelief, while unable to move, he muttered a curse as he looked at the fox-like Pokemon in fear, and the beautiful Pokemon quickly turned her eyes to him, as if ordering him to stand down and return what he had stolen. "Who… who's this Pokemon? Who dares to…"

"I do, if you don't mind." A strong male voice was heard, and a powerful-looking trainer made his appearance alongside the nine-tailed white fox, who turned to him and nodded her head proudly. The newcomer, under Ash and Anna's surprised gaze, stroke his Pokemon's head and retrieved something from the pocket of his vest, as the two children carefully eyed him.

"Who… who are you, mister…" Ash murmured, looking at the man from head to toe. He looked very mysterious indeed, wearing a red-and-black cape that covered his whole body, as well as a fox-like mask on his face and a pair of black gloves on his hands, eventually he recognized the man in front of him. "Wait a minute.. I remember you; you're the powerful trainer we encountered back at Mt. Moon!" As he took out a couple of new-model Pokedexes and a small CD-like object from his vest, Ash and his sister could almost feel like he was smiling gently at them.

"I'm sorry you got your Pokedexes stolen, kids… but don't worry, my Ninetales has taken care of this guy, as you can plainly see!" he stated, pointing at his Pokemon, who raised her tails in the air as if she were a peacock.

"_It was nothing really, master._" The beautiful Pokemon, now revealed as Ninetales, stated. "_This guy couldn't scare a Caterpie if he tried._"

The mysterious man chuckled at his Pokemon's comment, before handing Ash and Anna the new-model Pokedexes… and the TM he was holding! "Well, just make sure these two scoundrels don't escape. As for you, kids… this is a little present for you! These new Pokedex models come from the faraway continent of Unova, and they've got all the features present in your old Pokedexes, and a lot more! Plus… there's this new TM a friend of mine would like you to have!"

"_Wow… new Pokedex models from a faraway continent? That's pretty neat!_" Clefairy stated, as Ash and Anna received their new gift from the mysterious man and looked at them. They were black, compact, with a very clear screen and a Pokeball symbol drawn upon their surfaces, and they looked very comfortable and easy to use.

"Yeah… wow, this is awesome! Thank you very much…" Ash stated, looking at his new Pokedex in disbelief. "But… why is it that you want to give us these things?"

"Yeah…" Anna said, adjusting her hat as she looked at the Unova Pokedex, seemingly entranced by it.

The man chuckled nicely. "Well, kids… let's just say a friend of mine has taken a bit of an interest in you, and would love to see just how far you can go. She… feels there's great potential in both of you, and I think that's the case as well, seeing how well you trained that Pikachu and that Clefairy!"

"_Oh well…_" Pikachu said, rubbing his head in modesty. "_We just try to do our best! And our Pokemon friends are doing that as well!_"

"I know, little one…" the man answered with a nod. "Still, we were both pretty impressed by your skills, and thought we could as well give you a helping hand."

"That's… really nice of you…" Anna said, flattered. "And… what about this TM you're giving us? What does it contain?"

"Oh, that?" the fox-masked man said. "That's a pretty nice move for Flying-type Pokemon… and other kinds as well! Why don't you take a look at the content?"

"Content? What content…?" Ash began to ask, before his eyes fell on a note that had been sent together with the TM. He quickly picked it up and began reading it. "Hmm… this TM contains Aerial Ace. A Flying-type move than never misses its intended target."

"That's a move you could easily teach Pidgeotto, Ash!" Anna said with a smile.

"Well, it seems you kids already got the hang of it!" the man stated, nodding to Anna. "We will be watching you during your journey, and we'll meet again when the time is right! Do your best, kids… I know you can go far!"

"Thanks a lot…" Ash began to say… before realizing that he didn't even know the guy's name! "Er… mister…'"

"Oh, right… where are my manners?" the mysterious man said in embarrassment, as he recalled his beautiful Ninetales to his side. The Rocket grunts, too afraid of him to try anything, simply laid low and didn't try anything funny as the man bowed like a gentleman and introduced himself to Ash and Anna. "You can call me… Crimson Fox. My best wishes for the rest of your journey, kids."

"_From me as well._" Ninetales stated. Ash smiled and nodded at Pikachu, before trying out his new Pokedex by pointing it at Ninetales.

"_Ninetales, the Fox Pokémon. The evolved form of Vulpix. It has nine tails and a shining golden fleece. Ninetales are said to live very long lives_." The electronic encyclopaedia said. "_Each of its tails contains a different mystical power, but grabbing one of its many tails could result in a 1000-year curse._"

"Wow…" Ash answered. "Now this is a cool Pokemon…" He soon turned his attention towards the defeated Rocket member and pointed the new Pokedex at Drowzee while Anna did the same towards Machop.

_Drowzee, the Hypnosis Pokemon. If you sleep by it all the time, it will sometimes show you dreams it has eaten in the past._

_Machop, the Superpower Pokemon. It is very powerful in spite of its small size. Machop's Mastery of many martial arts makes it very tough._

Ash turned his attention back to the Crimson Fox and said "well, Mr. Crimson Fox, it was a pleasure to meet you, and we thank you for your help…" he didn't finish what he was going to say as much to the two siblings' surprise as well as their Pokemon's, the man and his Ninetales were already gone…

* * *

"Seriously… you two are so reckless!" Misty was saying, rubbing her forehead as she and Brock reunited with Ash and Anna, who were back in Cerulean City after getting the TM back from the Rockt grunts. "Charging in with no plan, and just with your Pokemon… you're lucky you're good trainers, or things might have gotten messy!"

"Eeh… we know, Misty, but we just couldn't let those thieves get away with this, right?" Anna answered. Now, the team had walked back to the house that had been visited by Team Rocket, and they were approaching the owner in order to hand the TM back to him. "Anyway… everything ended up well, and we got he TM back to boot! Mister, we have the TM they've stolen from you right here! We managed to defeat those Rocket jerks, and we got it back to you!"

However, much to the young girl's surprise, the owner of the TM didn't take it back – he just shrugged and waved his hand gently, telling the two trainers they could keep it. "It's okay, my young friend. You and your brother already did much for me, and it's only fair that I pay you back! And I guess what's lost is lost, anyway. I'll try teaching my Diglett how to use Dig without a TM." He said, before reaching into his pocket, and handing Ash a TM as well. "Here… I was keeping this other Dig TM just in case, but now I want you to keep it! I'm sure it will be more useful to you!"

"Er… well… what can I say, sir, we're grateful for that…" Ash answered, before turning his glance to the Officer Jenny who was on the scene. "But still, there's the problem of Team Rocket. They've started to be more active around here, as of late. First Mt. Moon, and now this…"

"Yes, we are worried about this as well." Officer Jenny answered with a small nod. "Those two grunts you defeated earlier on, we've already taken them in custody, and we will question them as appropriate. We'll try to investigate this problem, and try to put a stop to these act of Pokemon theft."

"That's good to know…" Brock answered with a nod. "Anyway, now that we've settled things here… where do you think we should go next?"

"Well, since I'm going to be traveling with you… I can give you a few pointers!" Misty stated with a wink. As Brock and the Ketchum siblings turned to her, the redhead pointed to a direction, the same direction where Nugget Bridge was, and continued. "A friend of mine lives near here, and he's a computer genius whose favorite hobby is inventing all kinds of programs and hi-tech gizmos! I'm sure he could give us a few pointers of where to look next!"

"Really? You're friends with a computer genius?" Anna asked in wonder. "That's cool! And… can we ask who this person is?"

Misty smiled cunningly at that. "Of course!" she said, winking. "His name is Bill, and he's the one who invented the Pokemon Storage System!"

"Well what are we waiting for? Let's get going!" With that said, Ash and co began making their way to see the infamous Pokemaniac Bill. While this was happening, the mysterious Crimson Fox and his Ninetales watched from afar, knowing that danger is going to take place now that they have officially become enemies of Team Rocket much like how he himself is the primary enemy of the criminal organization.

"Maybe, they might have a chance…" he spoke to his Fire-Type before leaving the scene together from public eye.


	10. Bill The Pokémanic

Disclaimer: I own nothing save for my OCs and I'd like to thank StormWolf77415 for allowing me to use the Crimson Fox for my saga and for Lily Nadesico and NEBSparky86 for becoming my co-writers plus for those who like this saga, I highly recommend both Lily's Rise of the Young Adventurers fic and Sparky's Rise of the Pokémon Princess fic.

Pokémon Rise of Heroes

Bill The Pokémanic

By EmperorDraco7 and co-written by Lily Nadesico and NEBSparky86

The next day, the group of young Pokémon trainers, with Misty among them, was walking along the road that lied beyond Nugget Bridge, heading towards the place where Bill, the famed inventor of the Pokémon Storage System, lived. After Misty's sisters had promised to take better care of the gym, allowing the youngest of the four to pursue her own dreams away from home, Misty felt a lot more at ease, and was now pleasantly chatting with Ash, Anna and Brock as they walked along a worn-out road on the side of a small hill.

"So, Misty… you said you've known Bill for quite a long time!" Anna said, holding her Clefairy in her arms. "Can you tell us something more about him? I mean, what's the guy like, what does he like to do… and things like that?"

"Well, it's not like we grew up close or anything…" Misty wanted to clarify. "Still, considering he often came to Cerulean City to do stuff, I met him quite a few times, and we've been talking to each other quite a lot. Anyway, yes, he's quite the technology geek, as you might imagine! He's one who just can't stay still when there's something new to try out on a computer… and he's also into that weird fashion trend of dressing up as Pokémon. I don't remember what it's called…"

"You mean, he's into cosplaying?" Ash asked, remembering the right word on top of his head. "I heard about that… people dress up as Pokémon, or as their fave characters from movies, cartoons, or stuff like that, and they try to act like them."

"Yes, that's what I was trying to say…" Misty stated. "Anyway… he's a cool guy, really, he's just a little… odd, I guess you could say! But I'm sure you'll become good friends with him!"

"_That__'__s __good! __I __can__'__t __wait __to __know __this __guy!_" Pikachu squeaked, giving Misty a thumbs-up sign. "_After__all __that __fighting, __I __kind a __missed __a __relaxing __day!_"

"Yeah, me too, little buddy!" Ash said with a joyful laugh. "By the way, Misty… how much longer till we get to Bill's place?"

"Not much, really… about half an hour of steady walking, and we'll be there!" the redhead answered, pointing at the higher hills in front of them. "Once we're there, well… just try not to be impressed at all the technological gizmos you see around, okay?"

"We'll try and remember that…" Brock answered with a nervous smile, asking himself what kind of strange person this Bill guy might have been. Of course, the answers would not have been long in coming…

"Okay, guys, here we are! This is… well… Bill's humble abode!" Misty stated, a slightly sarcastic edge to her voice as she showed Ash, Anna and Brock the place where Bill lived. All of them, along with Pikachu and Clefairy, were pretty dumbfounded at what they were seeing: Bill's house looked very modern and hi-tech, with a modern-looking entrance door surmounted by a security camera, and tall windows that seemed to have been designed to allow the rays of the sun to light up the whole place. The roof was dome-shaped, and a modern-looking tv antenna was jutting out of its center, with a huge tangle of electrical wires coming out of several points upon the semi-spherical surface. All in all, it looked like an highly advanced and rather messy place to live in… but then again, Brock reflected that this shouldn't really surprise him, as the one who had created the Pokémon Storage System was obviously a technological expert.

"_Wow__… __I __never __knew __humans __could __create __things __like __that! __This __is __really __awesome!_" Clefairy commented. "_Hey, __Anna, __have __you __ever __seen __anything __like __that?_"

"No way!" the girl answered, smiling and shaking her head. "But still… this is nothing compared to what humans are capable of creating! I'm sure we will see many things ever more wonderful than this during our journey!"

"_Wow__…_" the pink Pokémon stated, raising her eyebrows. She was really wondering what kind of wonders was she going to see along the way…

"Anyway, guys, you're about to meet with Bill. Hold on a second as I announce ourselves to him…" Misty stated, and pressed a button on the side of the entrance door, before standing in front of it and waiting for Bill to answer. However, several moments went by… and still nobody came to answer the door, which puzzled Misty quite a bit. She knew Bill almost never went out of his house… "This is strange..."

"What is?" wondered Ash, raising an eyebrow.

"There's no one home" explained Misty, trying to figured out what's going on and that it wouldn't make sense for this place to be empty. "Not to mention, I know that Bill wouldn't usually be out most of the time... or even this long for the matter."

Anna decided to push the button to see if there would be a response and so far, there was none at all. "I have a feeling that Misty is right..." she said to herself, a bit confused by what was happening when Clefairy heard something behind them. "What's wrong Clefairy?"

_I __thought __I __heard __a __voice __somewhere..._ began the Normal-Type, heading to where she thought the sound was coming from with Pikachu joining with her. _Hello! __Anyone __there?_ There wasn't a response after a few seconds. _Don__'__t __worry, __we __won__'__t __bite!_

It was then that the two Pokémon noticed something and went to where it was. "Hey wait up!" yelled Ash, following them with Anna, Brock and Misty close behind, whatever it was it was fast for sure and it was making its way towards the bridge in front of the house. "What was that?"

_I __have __no __idea __but __from __the __looks __of __it, __I __have __a __feeling __that __it __might __be __a __Pokémon _explained Pikachu, it took nearly two or three minutes before they eventually caught up with what they were going after.

_Huh?_ wondered Clefairy, upon closer inspection... the Pokémon in question looked a lot like her, thought the surprising difference was that the other Clefairy had strange green hair on its head unlike Anna's Normal-Type. _Another __Clefairy?__How __is __that __possible? __In __fact, __why __does __it __have __green __hair?_

Ash and the others were equally as confused by this strange Clefairy, as they remember that Clefairy can only be found at Mt. Moon as they remembered encountering them earlier while they were previously travelling to Cerulean City. Not to mention there is the fact that they have never seen green-hair on any of the Clefairy they've seen before. _What __do __you __supose __with __do? _asked Pikachu.

_I __have __no __idea, __from __the __looks __of __it... __It __seems __to __be __running __away __from __us_ answered Clefairy with a small frown on her face. Of course, she was hopping to befriend with it too though it couldn't be helped due to how it must have reacted. _For __now, __maybe __we __should __find __it __and __try __to __ask __why __it __is __running __from __us __before __we __do __anything._

_Good idea, the question is where exactly would it go from here?_

Clefairy remained silent for a moment, thinking about it and she let out a small sigh then said in a soft tone. _Your __guess __is __as __good __as __mine._

* * *

As the group entered the house, they unaware that they were being tailed by the notorious trio from Team Rocket, Jessie, James and their talking Meowth partner.

"So the boss wants us to capture that Bill guy, right?" James asked his two partners as they hid in a bush about 200 meters from the door to Bill's house.

"Yeah," answered Meowth with his thick New York-like accent. "Seems the boss wants to take all Pokemon that in this kid's Pokémon Storage System. Thanks to the twerps, they led us right to him."

James and Jessie each gave an evil grin, as did Meowth before beginning to formulate a plan. They were intent on ensuring their plan succeeded no matter the cost. Unknown to the dastardly trio, they were being watched by a white Ghost Pokémon as she slightly stuck her head out of a tree she was hiding in and listened to Team Rocket's plan. She was able to catch slight bits of important information. The white ghost Pokémon from the Sinoh Region got what she believed to be enough information and reported back her trainer, still hiding in the shadows.

"Well done Kagura," said the 10 year old girl she stepped forward, staying slightly in the shadows.

'_Thank you_,' replied the white Ghost Pokémon, known as Froslass. '_But may I ask a question_?'

"Yes, go ahead and ask your question," answered the Froslass's trainer, who went under the assumed identity Lily Yamada.

'_Why must we stay in the shadows_?' asked Kagura. '_I don_'_t think we should be hiding in the shadows_. _It_'_s pretty obvious that Team Rocket_'_s leader is bound find out that we haven_'_t left this Kanto region after the you won the Kanto Pokémon League tournament_.'

"We had our time in spotlight Kagura," the shiny Froslass' trainer explained to her. "Now it's time for mantle to be passed on to someone else."

'_And you believe that those sibling trainers from that small town_,_ Pallet Town_,_ are the ones that we should pass the mantle to_?' asked Kagura.

"Yes," answered Lily as she pulled back slightly more into the shadows even though her aqua blue dress didn't help her hide in the shadows any. "You have my word Kagura, we will reveal ourselves to them. I just ask that you bear with me until the time is right."

Kagura then rubbed her lavender temples and then brushed her bright pink obi of any dirt she might've gotten on it during her spy mission on Team Rocket. Kagura then eyed her trainer; oh she trusted her trainer, but living in the shadows, for her, wasn't her idea of lending a helping hand.

'_Just promise me that we won_'_t stay in the shadows the whole time_,' requested Kagura. '_I do wish to see sunlight every now and then_.'

Lily chuckled with a gentle smile on her face as she took her emerald green jacket off and replied, "You got it Kagura. You know I haven't gone back on my word."

'_And you know we always hold you to your word_,' added Kagura.

* * *

In the meanwhile, Ash and his friends had entered Bill's house, and they were looking around for the mysterious green-haired Clefairy that they had seen. Sadly, it was not going to be easy – such a small Pokemon could easily hide himself anywhere, and he seemed to be careful not to leave any tracks behind.

"Okay… this is really strange!" Misty said with a frown. "First, Bill is nowhere to be seen, and now there's this strange green-haired Clefairy. I'm thinking this might not be a coincidence… but now the question is, where can that Pokemon have gone to?"

As they looked around the strange house, outfitted with all sort of hi-tech gizmos and furniture, Ash, Anna and their Pokemon couldn't help but think what kind of person this Bill guy was. However, Misty's words quickly recalled them to the situation at hand. "I have no idea…" Anna answered, before looking under a desk. "He's so small, he can fit pretty much everywhere! I have no idea where to start looking…"

"_Maybe I should be the one to start searching around…_" Anna's Clefairy stated, taking a good look around in order to find some tracks. "_Hmm… still, Anna, you're right, there are many places where that guy could be hidden. But I'm not going to give up so easily! Pikachu, can you help me with this?_"

"_Sure thing!_" Pikachu exclaimed, raising his lightning-shaped tail as if it was some sort of radar. The two Pokemon began sneaking around, looking behind every corner, while the other trainers tried to aid as well, including moving some of the furniture around. However, for several minutes, nothing showed up, and Misty was beginning to get really worried. This really wasn't like Bill…

Suddenly, Clefairy took a look around a wardrobe, and stopped, raising her hand in order to call for attention. "_Guys, look here! I've found something!_" she exclaimed in her shrill voice, before looking closely… and seeing that it was exactly the green-haired Clefairy they were looking for, who was looking at Anna's pink Pokemon with a rather frightened expression. "_Hey… hey, don't be afraid, we're not here to hurt you! We just… need you to tell us what's going on here! Who are you, and where is the owner of this house?_"

"_Are… are you serious?_" the green-haired Clefairy stated, as the other trainers began gathering close to the place. "_How do I know you're not Team Rocket agents? How can you prove that?_"

"Well, maybe because Brock and I are Gym Leaders?" Misty stated, showing that Clefairy her Badge just like she had done with the Officer Jenny they had met before Ash and Anna had tackled Nugget Bridge. "Here. This should be proof enough."

"And we've also been fighting Team Rocket ever since we first set foot on Mt. Moon." Ash added, before showing the two Badges pinned on the inside of his jacket. Anna did the same with hers. "So… you have nothing to fear from us! We have nothing to share with those people."

The green-haired Clefairy seemed to be in awe for a second… then, as he realized that there was nothing to fear from them, he sighed in relief. "_Phew… is that so? Well then, I'm happy to have met you… and it's great to see you again, Misty! Boy, you sure have grown taller from last time!_"

"Hm? What is he talking about?" Brock asked, to which the red-haired Gym Leader wrinkled her nose and shook her head.

"I have no idea… do I know you?" she said, addressing the green-haired Clefairy, who rubbed his head in embarrassment. Now that she could get a closer look at him, though, Misty had to admit that there was something oddly familiar about him…

"_Actually… yes, we've already met… it's just that I was not like this!_" the green-haired Clefairy answered. "_I know it may sound incredible to you, but… truth is, I'm actually Bill, the owner of this house!_"

That had all trainers and Pokemon widen their eyes in disbelief and surprise! "WHAAAT? Hold… hold on a second here! How… how is that possible? You are Bill, you said? Then… why do you look like a Pokemon now? What's the meaning of this?" Ash asked, his finger pointed to the pink Pokemon, who chuckled sheepishly and began telling what had happened.

"_Well, as you might already know, I'm a bit of a computer nerd…_" he stated, pointing to the many computers and machinery. Misty nodded at that, prompting him to go on. "_And I have also invented a few things, such as the famous Pokemon Storage System, which I still count as my biggest achievement! Now… a few days ago, I was working on an experiment on Pokemon teleportation, with a Clefairy who had volunteered to help me. Something unexpected happened, there was an explosion… and next thing I know, I ended up combining myself with Clefairy! I… tried to reverse the experiment, but right now, I'm too small to reach the controls!_"

"Well… we can help you with that now!" Misty said. "Just tell us what to do, and we can get you back to normal!"

Bill sighed again, feeling relief at not having to be in a Pokemon's body anymore. "_Thanks, Misty… and thank you, everyone! It was really fortunate that you happened to pass by! Okay, let me show you to the machinery room, and then I'll tell you how to reverse the process!_"

"We're all ears!" Ash said, following his friends as Bill showed them the way.

The machine Bill wanted Ash and his friends to operate was a sinister-looking apparatus with several strange lights blinking on and off around it, and two capsules, large enough to accommodate a human-sized person, in front of it. Anna correctly guessed those were used for the teleportation experiment that had fused Bill and that Clefairy together.

"_See? Those two capsules were needed to try out the new teleportation… but as you can see, it's not exactly been a roaring success…_" Bill murmured. "_Anyway, there's a button console on the side of the machine. That thing is used to control the sliding doors, the teleport function… and everything else about the machine! If only one of you could get there and operate it…_"

"I'm already on it!" Brock said, as he walked to the controls. He could easily see that the button console was in fact too high for a small Clefairy to be able to reach it. "Hmm… okay, I'm not an expert on this kind of things, but if you can tell me what to do, I shouldn't have problems."

"_That's good…_" Bill stated. "_Okay, Brock… do you see that yellow button on the far left of the console? That one is used to open up the doors._"

"Okay, then…" Brock said, pressing the button. The capsule doors opened up with a low hiss… and just then, there was a flicker in the house's artificial lights, which turned off all of a sudden, and the machine stopped abruptly, catching everyone off guard!

"Huh? What's the matter now?" Anna asked in surprise. "Looks like there's a black out!"

"_This is impossible… I checked my home's generator only hours before the experiment began, and it was working correctly!_" Bill answered. "_How is it possible that it turned off so suddenly?_"

"I have no idea…" Ash said, looking around. Luckily, it was early in the afternoon, and illumination was not an issue. "Though I'm thinking that someone might have done on purpouse…"

"Hohohohooo! You got that right, twerp!" a shrill female voice answered, causing Ash and Anna to wince and look at their respective Pokemon in embarrassment! "It was all our work!"

"_Oh man… not those three again!_" Pikachu squeaked, rubbing his forehead as if he was nursing a headache!

Indeed, as soon as Pikachu said that, the team looked up at the entrance door, just to see Jessie, James and their talking Meowth stand there, in victorious poses! Jessie had her arms folded on her chest, James was holding his trademark rose in front of his face, and Meowth was standing between them, his front paws up as if he was ready to pounce.

"Prepare for trouble!" Jessie exclaimed.

"And make it double!" James went on.

"To protect the world of devastation!"

"To unite all people in our nation!"

"To denounce the evils of truth and love!"

"To extend our power to the stars above!"

"Jessie!"

"James!"

"Team Rocket, blasting off at the speed of light!"

"Surrender now or prepare to fight!"

"Meowth! That's right!"

"You again…" Anna sighed as she rubbed her forehead. "You just won't learn your lesson, will you? And what's up with you two being here?"

James waved his rose, scattering a few petals in the air. "Isn't that obvious? We have shut down the main generator, and we now have the key to activate it again! We are only going to give it to you after you comply to a few of our requests…"

"And what would that be?" Brock asked with a frown.

"Oh, nothing much…" Jessie stated. "We just want Bill here to give us the access password to the Pokemon Storage System! In this way, Team Rocket will be able to take all the Pokemon they want, whenever they want!"

"And how about we take another option?" Ash stated, taking out a Pokéball as Pikachu got ready to fight. "We can defeat you and retake the key to the generator, so you'll end up dry once again!"

"Oh, is that really so?" Jessie smirked. "Fine then, if you want to do this the hard way… go, Ekans!"

"You too, Koffing!" James continued. Both criminals threw their Pokéballs, which snapped open upon contact, and released the purple rattlesnake and the gas-filled Pokemon, who both gave a battle cry as they got ready to fight!

"The hard way it is, then!" Anna answered. "Go for it, Clefairy! We've got another battle to face!"

"_And I'm ready for it!_" the pink Pokemon said, getting in a fight pose.

"Okay Koffing, let's start things out with a smokescreen attack!" ordered James, with his Poison-Type forming black smoke around the entire house so their opponents wouldn't see what will be coming to them.

"Oh great…" muttered Brock, gritting his teeth while knowing that Smokescreen is capable of lowering the accuracy of the opposing Pokemon.

"Now it's my turn," grinned Jessie with a nod. "Ekans, use your Poison Sting attack on that Pikachu!"

"Oh no you don't!" snapped Ash, waiting for the attack to get closer before he makes his move but he also needed to be quick on what he is about to do as well. "Pikachu, counter with Thundershock now!"

Pikachu's cheeks sparked and he let out a powerful Thundershock attack to stop the Poison Sting in its tracks but what they didn't know was that is what the trio was hoping for as well. "Koffing, Sludge attack him now!" commanded James.

"Quick Cleffairy, use Gravity now!" countered Anna.

_I'm on it!_ said the Normal-Type, using Gravity to pull Koffing onto the ground before he could spit out his sludge onto Pikachu. _You need to be a lot faster than that!_

_Issss thissss fassster for you? _Came Ekans' hissing voice as he managed to sneak up from behind Clefairy and was squeezing her with his wrap attack. _I have you in my grasssp and watch asssss I sssqueeze you into ssssubmissssion._

"That's right Ekans, give that Clefairy what's coming to her!" laughed Jessie, finding it amusing by how the trainers were trying to deal with them.

"Oh yeah, Pikachu use Iron Tail to get Clefairy free!"

_Got it! _yelled Pikachu, jumping into the air with his tail glowing white and slammed it right into the snake Pokemon's face, causing him to lose his grip on Clefairy. _Are you okay? _

She nodded her head and said. _I'll be fine, thank you… Let's get back to the battle!_

Remaining silent, he confirmed and turned his attention back towards Koffing and Ekans. While this is happening, Meowth took this chance to try and get Bill so they can proceed with phase 2 of their new plan with the four trainers being preoccupied with facing Jessie and James. _Perfect, everything is going according to plan and if we're lucky, we'll be able to get Bill and both Clefairy and Pikachu as well._ He thought with a very wicked grin on his face as he extended his claws out, waiting for the right moment to straight. _I just hope those two would keep this up until we have what we came for._

The shadowy figure and two of her Pokémon had advanced up towards Bill's house and continued to observe the situation.

'_We need to do something and help them out_,' Kagura said to her trainer they still hid in the shadow of the tree lines.

The shadowy figure said nothing as she watched the scene unfold and watched as Team Rocket was doing battle with Ash and his sister once again. It seemed like they were having a slow start but gained an upper hand after seeing Pikachu free Clefairy from Ekans's grasp.

"We may not have to help," the figure said as she turned to her Froslass before going back to watch the scene unfold.

The figure along with Froslass and oddly colored Porygon watched the battle unfold until they saw Meowth moving to snatch Bill in his Clefairy form.

Meowth silently crept his way towards towards Clefairy Bill. He bobbed and weaved through the two on two battle between Team Rocket and the Ketchum siblings. It wasn't easy for Meowth as he had to remain silent watch his step as he made his way towards Bill, transformed as a Clefairy. Koffing and Ekans were being thrown around and knocking Pikachu and Anna's Clefairy around. Meowth was able to get close enough and nabbed him while he wasn't looking and was being drug off by Meowth.

"I got 'em!" exclaimed Meowth as he made his way towards the exit.

That was Jessie and James's cue to escape as well as they couldn't nab Ash's Pikachu and Anna's Clefairy as along with Bill in his form as a Clefairy. They quickly recalled Ekans and Koffing, and made their escape, with Pikachu, Clefairy and the trainers hot on ther heels!

'_Okay_,_ now we have to do something_!' the Froslass, Kagura, exclaimed to her trainer.

The Froslass's trainer gave a slight nod giving Kagura the okay to go intervene and also looked to a Porygon that let itself out of its Pokéball. This Porygon happened to be unlike all Porygon known to be offered at the Celadon Game Corner. The Porygon had a lime green mouth and legs with an orange head and torso. It floated along with the Kagura eager to help out Ash and his friends.

'I certainly hope Kagura and Dearka don't get reckless,' the trainer as she watched her two rare and special shiny Pokémon went to help Ash and his friends.

'_Alright Dearka_, _I need you to be a battery and keep those crooked humans from escaping_,' Kagura instructed her Porygon partner.

'_You got it Kagura_,' acknowledged Dearka as he gave his partner a slight nod.

'_One last thing Dearka_,' Kagura said to her partner before disappearing, '_use the element of surprise and camouflage yourself with trees and rocks_.'

Dearka gave a slight nod once again and made his way to the nearest rock before planting his feet on the ground after the electric energy dissipated under his feet.

Kagura then disappeared into the ground and silently made her way towards Team Rocket. Once she was in position, she slightly appeared out of the ground, turned towards her Porygon partner and signaled him to begin the attack.

Dearka, from his position slightly appeared from out his camouflaged position, used his Lock On and fired an Ice Beam as Team Rocket was about three meters away from being home free and ready to blast off in their Meowth hot air balloon. Team Rocket had grins on their faces that they didn't see the wall of ice made by Dearka and ran into the ice wall. Kagura then fired off a Thunderbolt at the dastardly trio. Kagura had to come out of her hiding place for a brief minute to fire off a Thunderbolt attack.

As Kagura fired off a Thunderbolt attack, she was spotted by Anna who caught a glimpse of the Snow Maiden Pokémon. She quickly pulled out her Pokédex and aimed at Kagura and her Pokédex was able to identify the unknown Pokémon.

'Froslass, the Snow Maiden Pokémon,' chirped Anna's new Pokédex. 'Froslass is known capture prey, freeze it and put it on display.'

"What a strange Pokemon…" Anna said to herself. "I don't think I have ever seen any Pokemon like that before…"

There was no more time to think about that, as Kagura's Thunderbolt almost struck the Meowth hot air balloon head-on! The Team Rocket trio screamed in surprise as the sphere-shaped electric blast passed dangerously close to their balloon, which swerved and lost altitude… only to crash into a large wall of ice that Dearka the Porygon has created with his own powers!

"Aaaaargh!" Jessie screamed in anger and surprise. "Who's the wise guy that thought about having a wall of ice built right here? I wanna have a word with him!"

"Darn! Our prisoner is escaping!" Meowth said. In fact, during all the confusion, the green-haired Clefairy that was Bill had managed to get away, disentangling himself and then jumping off the hot air balloon and on the branches of a nearby tree, easily making his way down.

Well hidden among the foliage, Dearka smirked cunningly to himself. The cybernetic Pokemon knew it couldn't be detected, as it didn't have any smell, and could turn invisible… and from there, he could easily use his own powers to ruin Team Rocket's day!

Kagura took aim and fired another Thunderbolt attack… and this time, her aim was true, and the hot air balloon was hit head-on and electrocuted, causing the trio to scream in pain and surprise before the balloon exploded in a huge blast, and sent the three airborne, their clothes blackened and their hair charred!

"Aaaaargh! I can't believe it! We almost had them this time!" Jessie screamed in anger.

James had waterfall-like tears streaming down his face as he whined. "Why is it that even in these stories, we are the ones that end up losing?"

"Sigh… well, guys, let's go through this again…" Meowth sighed in resignation.

"_Looks like Team Rocket is blasting off again!_" they all screamed in unison, as they flew upwards and became a twinkle in the sky!

Bill reached the ground just then and easily landed on his feet as Ash, Anna and their friends gathered around him and looked in surprise as the trio of criminals that disappeared in the distance. They all were surprised at the strange Ice / Ghost Pokemon that had just intervened, and didn't know what to make of it… other than the fact that it seemed they did have someone watching over them! First that Crimson Fox guy, and now this…

"Hey, Bill… are you alright?" Misty asked as she came to fetch her friend and picked him up in her arms. "You aren't hurt, are you?"

The green-haired Clefairy breathed a sigh of relief, glad to be out of danger. "Thanks, guys… no, I'm okay, though I have no idea where that wall of ice and that Thunderbolt attack came from…" he said.

"_I'm sure I saw a strange Pokemon there… I don't think I have ever seen a Pokemon like that before!_" Pikachu answered, looking towards Kagura as she took a look at them, and then disappeared from his and Clefairy's sight with an enigmatic smile. Dearka, for his part, had turned invisible and was now sneaking away, returning to his trainer's side. "_Ash, guys… do you happen to know what was that?_"

"Sorry, Pikachu… never saw that Pokemon myself…" Ash answered, before turning to Anna, Brock and Misty. "What about you guys?"

Anna shrugged. "You're asking the wrong girl, Ash. I know as much as you do."

"I have never seen a Pokemon like that myself…" Brock said. "However, I think it might be from Sinnoh, just like that strange Pokemon Paul used against me in our fight."

"We don't know much abut Sinnoh…" Ash answered, looking at Anna straight in the eye. The girl shrugged and tipped her hat to the side. "Though, I'll admit, I would very much like to visit it one day… and if I want to become a Pokemon Master, I'll have to go there eventually."

"Anyway, that's not important right now…" Brock said, bringing everyone back to their current situation.

"Oh right, Bill... we almost forgot about him" muttered Anna, hitting her forehead at having forgotten about Bill as he's still in the form of a Pokemon and they needed to help him change back to his normal form. "Okay, what should we do?"

"When I'm inside the teleporter, please activate its cell separation sequence" explained Bill before going towards the machine itself and Anna went to bring the generator back online in order to make the process work while Ash prepares to separate Bill from the Clefairy. About 5 minutes later, the lights went back on which the doors opened and Bill went inside, wishing the trainers luck as the doors closed shut.

Remaining silent, Ash began to activate the teleporter's cell separator and prays that it would work as the teleported activated. "Okay, here it goes..." he said to himself as he pushed the red button, causing the teleporter to hum to life. Remaining silent, the others waited to see what will happen and hope nothing else goes wrong.

The machine began emitting some strange wheezing sounds and beepings as it continued its process, and the Ketchum siblings took a step back, a little intimidated by that strange reaction. Finally, after what had seemed to be hours to them and their friends, Bill's teleporter slowly turned itself off, and the door slowly opened as Bill began stepping outside. Not knowing what to expect, the team stood in wait, hoping they would see Bill back to normal…

And after a few tense seconds, they could make out a Clefairy speaking her name jumping for joy as she was happily making her way out of the cottage and soon afterwards a human figure steped out of the teleporter: a young man about a couple years older than Misty, with curly light green hair and wearing a red t-shirt, jeans and trainers. He was looking at his own hands in satisfaction and relief, and Misty smiled as well as she recognized him.

"Cool! It worked, I'm back to normal! Phew, for a moment I was actually afraid I would have to spend the rest of my life as a Pokemon!" the young man, who was obviously Bill in his real human guise, said to no one in particular, before glancing up and towards Misty and her friends. "Good to see you, Misty… and thank you, everyone! You really got me out of a pretty nasty pinch!"

"Ah, don't mention it… we just did what everyone would have done in our place!" Ash chuckled lightly. "Anyway, you're Bill, right? My name is Ash Ketchum, and there are my twin sister Anna… and our Pokemon, Pikachu and Clefairy!"

"_Hello __there, __Bill!_" Pikachu greeted the computer nerd. "_We__'__ve __been __hearing __about __you __for __some__time __now!_"

"_Misty __here __decided __we __should __pay __you __a __visit__…_" was Clefairy's comment.

The young man named Bill took a good look at Pikachu and Clefairy, before nodding in approval. "Hmm… so there are your favorite Pokemon, huh? I have to say, they look very well trained! I'm quite impressed, if I have to be honest." He commented.

Misty chuckled a little. "Well, you can say that! Ash's Pikachu managed to defeat my Starmie during our gym battle, and Anna used her Beedrill to great effect against me!" she stated, before rubbing the back of her head with one hand. "Granted, it may just be that I'm terrified of Bug-type Pokemon, but that Beedrill really packed a punch!"

"That's quite amazing, I have to say." Bill stated, nodding at Ash, Anna and their Pokemon. "And in any case, I need to thank you for helping me out of that nasty situation. Let me see, where did I put them…?"

Ash, Pikachu and their friend looked on with some puzzlement as Bill walked towards a drawer and began searching through it, finally coming up with four small colorful sheets of paper. "Ah, there they are! I was given these tickets of admission to a great party that will take place on board the S.S. Anne, a large cruise ship that will be moored in Vermilion City Harbor, to the south of Kanto. They told me I could go myself and bring three friends along for the ride… but the truth is, these high-class ships aren't my thing. I'd much rather let you four attend to that event along with your Pokemon. So… please accept these as a token of my gratitude."

Ash and his friends were quite surprised that Bill would willingly give up his own chance to attend to a party on board of a luxurious cruise ship. "Well…" the young boy said, accepting the tickets. "We would surely love to go to that party, but are you sure you really don't want to go? That's quite a big prize you're giving us, you know." He said as he looked at the tickets, his sister peeking at them from over his shoulder.

Bill chuckled at that. "Hehehee… don't worry, guys, I don't really like fancy dos, so I'm glad if you guys can go in my place!" he answered. "And really, you saved me from a bad situation, so it's only fair that I pay you back."

"Don't mention it, it wasn't really all that hard." Brock stated. "Although, I am curious to know… how does this storage system work? I know that a trainer can have no more than six Pokemon at a given moment, but… how do any extra Pokemon get stored?"

"It's all quite simple, really…" Bill answered, smiling as he relished his chance to explain how his invention worked. "You see, this system stores Pokemon by converting them into computer data, and leaving them in a virtual reality simulation that continuously runs in the main server. While they are there, Pokemon have no need to eat or drink, and they can roam in the simulation to their heart's content, just like they can do in the wilderness. It's an environment that I have programmed myself in order to let the Pokemon enjoy their time there and not make them feel constricted or in discomfort."

Misty whistled. "Now that's a great idea!" she said. "I am amazed at how you managed to create such a virtual environment!"

"Nothing is impossible, when you know the right instructions!" Bill said with a smile. "Anyway, as you can see, Pokemon can exist in this virtual environment for as long as they, or their trainers, want, and are recalled from it whenever the trainer accesses the database and picks them up from there! Should a Pokemon be caught when the six-Pokemon-limit is reached, it will immediately be transferred to the Storage System, so you don't need to worry about not being able to catch a Pokemon you need."

"_Wow__… __now __that __is __brilliant_!" Anna's Clefairy commented. "_So__… __you __don__'__t __need __to __always __keep __a __spare __place __in __your __Pokemon __team, __huh? __Talk __about __a __useful __feature, __huh, __Anna?_"

"Yeah, you're right… It's a really great idea, and we'll make sure to use your Storage System during our travels!" Anna said, nodding cheerfully to Bill. Before the group could keep their conversation going, Ash looked out the window and saw a little crab Pokémon walking around.

"Awesome, another Pokémon to catch," Ash said as he pulled out his Pokédex and aimed it at the crab Pokémon.

_'Krabby, the Crab Pokémon,'_ reported Dexter. _"Krabby is known to live in dug in burrows on sandy beaches. It's own pincers fully grow back if ever broken in battle.'_

Ash reached for his belt and was going for Butterfree's Pokéball, but grabbed Rattata's Pokéball instead and said, "Go Butterfree."

Much to Ash's surprise, Rattata came out rearing to fight. But Rattata turned to Ash and said, '_I_'_m not Butterfree_._ Don_'_t forget that again_.'

"Um sorry about that," Ash said sheepishly as he scratched his head. "Now go Rattata."

'_Alright_,' replied Rattata with enthusiasm. '_I_'_m ready to go here_.'

"Rattata, use Quick Attack on Krabby," ordered Ash.

Rattata complied by rapidly charging at Krabby, who had turned his back to Rattata and didn't see the Quick Attack coming and skidded for a few meters, face in the ground. The Krabby then got back up and faced Ash and Rattata.

'_Hey_,_ what_'_s the big idea attacking a Pokémon from behind_?' demanded the Krabby as he wasn't happy that Ash and his Rattata attacked him from behind.

'_I shouldn_'_t have to say _'_Hey_,_ I_'_m attacking you from behind_'_ before landing a good hit on you_,' countered Rattata. '_It takes all the fun out of a battle between two Pokémon_.'

'_Really_?' challenged Krabby. '_I_'_ll show you the fun I can bring_.' Krabby's eyes glowed blue as the attack caused Rattata's fur to stand on end.

"That looked like Krabby's Leer attack," observed Brock.

"Leer?" asked Ash as he looked to Brock.

"Leer is an attack that lower an opposing Pokémon's attack," answered Anna. "You should've been paying attention to stuff like that Ash. Geez, sometimes you can be so dense."

Ash ignored Anna's sarcastic comment and then noticed that Rattata was beginning to glow. Krabby charged forward and then sent a jet of bubbles at Rattata.

"Dodge it and use Sucker Punch," countered Ash.

'_Now that_'_s what I like to hear_,' replied Rattata before feeling funny fully glowing.

"What the?" Bill asked as he was watching the scene unfold.

"Wow little Bro, your Rattata is evolving into Raticate," observed Anna with a grin on her face. After a few seconds, the Pokemon reappeared, having transformed into a bigger, stronger version of itself, with unruly chestnut brown fur, long whiskers on his face, a long naked tail and a pair of razor-sharp incisives that forced his mouth half-open. He was standing on his hind legs, showing short but vicious claws adoring his forepaws.

Ash whipped out his Pokédex and aimed it at Raticate.

_'Raticate, the mouse Pokémon,'_ chirped Dexter once again. _'The evolved form of Rattata. Raticate is known for having powerful fangs and gnaw through even cinder block.'_

"No way…" Ash was surprised by this but smiled at his newly evolved Pokemon and said with a look of confidence. "Let's finish where we left off and use Sucker Punch right now!"

Raticate nodded and used his Sucker Punch attack to quickly hit Krabby in the face though that isn't all that he's got. "Alright now use Super Fang!" ordered Ash and his Normal-Type managed to deliver a power bite onto his opponent then the black-haired trainer produced a Pokeball. "Okay, Pokeball let's go!" He threw a Pokeball at the Water-Type and watched it get sucked inside, then it began vibrating repeatedly for a few seconds before a sound was made, signifying that the Pokemon was successfully captured. "Alright, we've captured Krabby!"

Raticate was relieved at this and Pikachu went towards the Normal-Type then said. _"You did a pretty good job out there."_

"_You really think so?"_

"_Yeah, I mean it"_ answered Pikachu as Ash was proud of Raticate's efforts as well not just the fact that he captured a new Pokemon but also that he was glad to have gotten it with his help.

"I must say, that was some intriguing display of battle tactics you've used there" began Bill, quite impressed with what happened. "I have no doubt that you would be able to hold your own against the Gym Leader of Vermillion City."

"Thanks Bill" smiled Ash, though he turned his attention towards Pikachu and Raticate before continuing. "Though I think most of the credit goes to Raticate, I wouldn't have been able to capture Krabby without him."

Raticate remained silent and didn't know what to say about that though a smile formed on his face never the less. It was then that Misty spoke. "Well now that that has been taken care of, why don't I show you guys the Cerulean Cape while we're here?" she suggested.

"The Cerulean Cape?" wondered Anna in surprise. "I've never heard of that place."

"You'll love it, especially since it's the kind of place to bring someone when you're on a date and the sunsets are the best part of being there."

"Wow…" Ash and Anna were amazed at this as were Raticate, Pikachu and Clefairy, they were certain that a tour of the Cape itself won't hurt at all as it sounds like a very interesting spot to check out before they head for Vermillion City.

The walk to Cerulean Cape wasn't actually that long – in about 15 minutes, the whole team had managed to get there, walking along a winding road that went up a small hill, not very far away from Bill's house. As soon as they got on top, they could enjoy a rather breathtaking sight of Cerulean City and the tall, majestic mountains all around it. The setting sun, casting an orange hue on the vista, was an added bonus!

"Wow… that's a really romantic place!" Misty said, looking around herself with an enchanted expression on her face. "You were right, Bill… and to think I didn't know such a place existed!"

"Yeah, it's just… wonderful!" Anna said. "I'm glad we decided to take a walk here… ifI hd a boyfriend, this would be the very first place I'd want to go on a date with him! Don't you think so as well, Clefairy?"

"_Well, I do hope you can find one soon and have a walk around here!_" the pink fairy Pokemon cheerfully answered. Anna giggled and rubbed the back of her head with one hand, her cheeks turning pink.

Brock, for his part, seemed a little dismayed. "Awww, I wish I had known that sooner – about this place being used for dates, I mean." He murmured. "If only I had spoken to Nurse Joy or Officer Jenny about these places, maybe they would have accepted…"

Bill blinked in confusion, but Misty waved an hand in order to tell him to dismiss Brock's weirdness. "Never mind him… he always tries to hit on every pretty girl around his age he meets!" she explained. "I swear, sometimes I don't know what to do with him…"

"Haaa… I see…" Bill said sheepishly, before coughing and getting back to the situation at hand. "Anyway, yes… this is a place that holds some very fond memories for me. Have you ever heard of the mysterious Pokemon of the lighthouse?"

Everyone stood in silence for a while, and looked at each other as if trying to find an answer… and after a few moments of silence, Pikachu shrugged his shoulders at Clefairy. "_Well? Have you ever heard of that?_" the electric mouse asked. "_Have you ever heard of a Pokemon that showed up at a lighthouse?_"

The pink fairy shrugged. "_I'm sorry, can't say I have…_"

"I did hear a few rumors…" Misty admitted. "From what I know, there were rumors about a strange dragon-like Pokemon that sporadically appeared near the lighthouse, emitting some sort of melodious call. Some people are saying that it's a Dragonite, or a similar Dragon-type Pokemon."

"A Dragon-type Pokemon?" Ash asked. "I didn't remember there was this type of Pokemon…"

Anna sighed in mock annoyance. "That just goes to show that youshouldn't sleep when people tell us about the Pokemon types. It's not as simple as Fire beats Grass, Grass beats Water and Water beats Fire, you know…" she said with a shrug.

Ash frowned a little. "I know that, Anna… there are at least 15 Pokemon types out there, and they all have their strengths and weaknesses… but I just didn't remember there was a Dragon-type at all!"

"_Oh boy…_" Raticate squeaked, his tail whipping the ground in nervousness. "_For a Pokemon trainer, he's quite the ignorant one…_"

Bill cleared his throat and began explaining. "Well, Dragon-type Pokemon are considered to be the toughest of all, and for good reason – they are resistant to all four of the main elements, that is to say Grass, Water, Fire and Electric. From what I know, only Ice or Dragon type attacks can really hurt them." he explained, earning some impressed looks by Ash and his friends. "Anyway… yes, there is this Dragonite that sometimes appears near the lighthouse, calling out for someone, or something. I… remember that I have seen him, one day, when I was very little and my grandfather took me here to see the stars! I've never been able to forget it…" Bill now had a dreamy expression on his face as he recalled the day of so many years past, leading his newfound friends and their Pokemon as well to try and imagine just what kind of sight that mysterious Pokemon must have been…

"Man, that must have been pretty awesome…" Ash finally stated, looking at the lighthouse that now seemed lonely and deserted. "I wish I could have a Pokemon like that one day…"

Bill smiled, willing himself back to reality. "I'm sure you will find a Pokemon like that, one day… and it will be a shining star in your team! You know, Ash Ketchum… I think you and your sister have a great destiny in front of yourselves. Don't ask me why, I just feel this is going to happen, and I wish good luck to both of you in your journey!"

"Thank you, Bill… we're just trying to do our best, right, Clefairy?" Anna said, winking to her fairy Pokemon, who answered by turning to her and giving a victory sign with her small fingers.

Bill chuckled at that and rummaged through one of his pockets to retrieve something… which turned out to be a series of paper sheets with some data written upon them, each one sporting a picture of a different cat-like Pokemon. "I'm sure you will do great… and by the way, I would like you to have these! You can say these are reference sheets for a very special Pokemon… just see for yourselves, and you'll know what I mean!"

Ash accepted the sheets of paper from Bill, and Anna, Brock and Misty quickly gathered near him to take a look, with Pikachu and Clefairy climbing on their trainers' shoulders as well. What they saw was quite unexpected: the first sheet described a cute Pokemon that looked ike a cross between a squirrel and a rabbit, with a soft mane, brown fur and long pointed ears… while the others were seven Pokemon, each looking quite different from the other, but all of them sharing some qualities: they all had deep eyes and pointed ears, and all of them looked quite majestic in their own right: one of them had golden hair done in spikes all over its body, one looked like a blue mermaid, then there was a black one with golden rings painted on its body… and so forth.

"Well, the first one is obviously an Eevee, but… What kind of Pokemon are those others?" Anna asked in wonder. "Are you telling me that all those are the possible evolutions of an Eevee?"

"Exactly! You catch on quickly, girl!" Bill answered. "As a matter of fact, Eevee is a Pokemon with a rather unstable DNA, and it can evolve in different ways according to several situations! That's what makes it a very rare and sought-for Pokemon! By the way, I've heard that some guy in Celadon City is particularly fond of Eevee… you know, if you're lucky, you might even get one from him!"

Brock chuckled. "Well, that would be just great!" he stated. "After all, I think a Pokemon like that might just be what Ash and Anna need to give their team an extra oomph… am I right about that?"

"Well… we'll have to think about it!" Ash answered as he finished examining the sheets. His attention had been caught by a cute Eevee evolution with a forked tail, light purple skin and deep black eyes, identified as Espeon, a Psychic type. "For now… well, I guess we need to decide what our next destination might be. We need to get all the training we can, in order to take on the next Gym."

"I agree. For now, it was relatively easy, but the difficulty is only going to ramp up from now on." Misty stated. "And your next destination, VermillionCity… isn't exactly known for a Gym Leader that goes easy on his opponents!"

"She's right… so, how about you stop at my home for tonight?" Bill proposed. "Tomorrow, you can wake up early, and continue on your way. Speaking of which, I'd suggest you take a detour to the Hidden Pokemon Village, on the way to the Underground Passage! I'm sure you'll find something interesting there!"

"Thank you very much, we'll follow your indications." Anna said, before taking out her Fame Checker and taking a look at it, sporting an astute smirk. "But before that… I'd like to check something on my Fame Checker! Of course, if you don't mind, Misty…"

"Huh?" the redhead asked in confusion… which soon turned to dismay when it was revealed that, in fact, the Fame Checker was updating itself!

"_Information: The Cerulean Cape. It is a well-known place for romantic dates, and it is said that Misty, Gym Leader of Cerulean City, has high hopes for this place._"

"AAAGH!" Misty screamed, trying to chase after the younger girl as Anna laughed and began running away. "You did not do just that, you little sneak! Give it back! Erase that!"

"Hahaaa, first you'll have to catch me, Misty!" Anna tunted playfully. In confusion, Ash and his friends could do nothing but stare in wide-eyed wonder at the two girls running around…

"You weren't supposed to know that!"

"But now I do! And there's nothing you can do about it!"

"Give it to me, now!"

"I told you, you have to catch me!"

Finally, as the girls kept chasing each other, Ash and Pikachu sighed and looked at each other, smiling at the unusual sight.

"Girls…" Ash started.

"…_will be girls!_" Pikachu finished, wagging his lightning-shaped tail around.

TO BE CONTINUED…


	11. The Hidden Pokémon Village

Disclaimer: See the previous chapters as it shows that I don't own anything from either the games or the anime. Though sometimes I wish I did own the latter so it would be a lot better than how things are going in it right now.

Pokémon: Rise of Heroes

The Hidden Pokémon Village

By EmperorDraco7 and co-written by Lily Nadesico and NEBSparky86.

The following morning, Ash and his friends had departed early from Cerulean Cape, with Bill wishing them good luck for the remainder of their journey, and were now walking through a beautiful road alongside the forest surrounding Cerulean City, directed towards the Underground Tunnel that would take them to Vermilion City... where a new Gym, along with what sounded like an awesome time on board the S.S. Anne. But before that, they had to make sure they would get there in time. Because of that, they had tried to walk as fast as possible and only taking breaks when it was absolutely necessary. Right now, they were sitting on a couple of logs on the sides of the street, having lunch along with their Pokémon.

"Man... it sure was a tiring walk, and it's just midday..." Ash said, flexing his back a little in order to stretch himself. "I had no idea the Underground Tunnel was so far away..."

"Well, if we keep on walking like we've been doing for the last... two hours or so... I'm pretty sure we can get to Vermillion City by tomorrow evening." Misty explained, gently stroking her Seel's white fur as the seal-like Pokémon happily munched on his Pokémon food just like the others. "I just hope we don't run into those Team Rocket buffoons for once, though..."

"You and me both, sister..." Anna commented as she watched her Clefairy, her Wartortle, her Sandshrew, her Nidoran and her Beedrill wolf down on their food. She was glad to see her Pokémon were coming along so well, but she was still a little worried... after all, the battle with Misty hadn't exactly gone as well as she imagined it to be, and there was the fact that she needed a new member to fill in the blind spots in her team. Perhaps that Oddish she had been fancying for a while would have been a good idea, and she'd probably need a Fire-type Pokémon as well.

Just as she was in the middle of her musing, watching Brock pour some Pokémon food for his Geodude, his Zubat and his Onix, the girl from Pallet Town caught sight of something moving in the tall grass close to the team, and quickly turned in that direction, curious as to what could have been the cause for that. She did not have to wait long to get the answer, too - a few seconds later, a strange plant creature hopped out of the patch of tall grass, looking around itself as if in confusion. It had a round, blueish body with tiny legs and no arms at all, and its face consisted on nothing more than a pair of small red eyes and a narrow mouth that seemed to be nothing but a narrow black line. Also, it had several bushy green leaves growing from the top of its round body, and it was shaking them around gently as it seemed to be looking for something. Anna's interest immediately perked up, and she stood up for her sitting place while calling for her Beedrill with a small movement of her hand!

"Now this is what I was just looking for!" she exclaimed as she scanned the newcomer with her Pokedex. "An Oddish… just the kind of Pokémon I was looking for!"

"_Interesting!_" Beedrill buzzed, sharpening his stingers against one another. "_I __am __ready __for __som e__action, __Anna!_"

"_Oddish, __the __Weed __Pokémon._" Anna's Dexter said in its monotone voice. "_It__s earches __for __fertile, __nutrient-rich __soils, __where __it __plants __itself. __It __grows __by __absorbing __moonlight, __and __the __more __fertile __the __soil, __the __glossier __its __leaves __become._"

"Alright, Beedrill time to start things out with Twineedle!" ordered Anna, watching the Bug/Poison-Type fly towards the unsuspecting Oddish and managed to hit her with stingers, this made the Grass/Poison-Type shocked at this before unleashing a strange pink odor that made Beedrill feel relaxed. "Oh man..."

"This isn't good, Oddish is using Sweet Scent" began Brock with a serious expression on his face as he spoke again. "When used, the opposing Pokémon's Evasion falls and from the looks of it Beedrill will be wide open for the next attack."

"Brock's right, any moment Oddish would use this as her chance to make her next move and she'll want to make sure it counts" added Misty.

"That's just great..." frowned Ash, witnessing Oddish perform an Absorb attack on Beedrill though it didn't do much damage at all due to the Double-Type that his sister's Pokémon has which would serve as a plus for her.

"Okay, if you really want to do this the hard way then find by me... Beedrill, Fury Attack!" Beedrill's Stingers were raised up and he managed to hit Oddish up to three times. "Now use your Bug Bite!" With that, the Bug/Poison-Type bit the Weed Pokémon and caused her to scream in pain.

However she was showing some spunk by getting back up and prepared to do a Sleep Powder attack though Anna knew better. "Quick, take to the air!" she ordered her Beedrill, who was able to get out of the way on time. "I think we better try another approach... Use Aerial Ace right now!"

_On __it! _said Beedrill, targeting the Oddish on the ground below and with a serious expression, he raised both of his Stingers in front of him then dove down at top speed which the Grass/Poison-Type was preparing to dodge the upcoming attack. However what she didn't know was that Aerial Ace was actually one of a few attacks that would never miss its target no matter what and with a direct hit, she was soon down for the count. _There,__that__should__do__it._

"Alright, it worked!" said Anna in amazement, then brought out a Pokéball as she was hoping that this day would come. "Pokéball let's go!" She threw it towards the Oddish, but the next thing that happened would catch everyone off-guard as a vine came from out of no where and whacked the Pokéball away before it could hit the Weed Pokémon. "What the?"

As the ball landed on the ground in front of her, a strange Pokémon emerged from within the grass as it soon got in front of Oddish with a look of anger on his face. Though Ash and Anna recognized what it was. "No way, a Bulbasaur!" exclaimed Ash, not wanting to believe it but never the less there it was... one of three starters that Professor Oak would usually give to new trainers starting their journey at Pallet Town. With that in mind, Ash took his Pokédex out to scan the new Pokémon.

'_Bulbasaur, __the __Seed __Pokémon_,' chirped Dexter. '_Once __Bulbasaur __is __born, __it __starts __to __absorb __nourishment __from __the __seed __on __it's __back_.'

"Oh man, I gotta have it," Ash said he went for one of his Pokémon. "Pidgeotto, I choose you."

'_Smart __choice __Ash_,' Pikachu said from the sidelines.

"Alright Pidgeotto, use your Gust attack," ordered Ash.

Pidgeotto complied and used Gust on the Bulbasaur and it felt the effects of Pidgeotto's Gust, but charged at Pidgeotto.

'_What __the_?!' asked Pidgeotto in shock. '_My __Gust __attack __should_'_ve __done __more __damage_. _But __that __little __Bulbasaur __is __charging __right __at __me_.'

"Don't panic Pidgeotto," urged Ash. "Use Aerial Ace! Maybe that will stop Bulbasaur if charge at him head on."

'_You __got __it __Ash_,' replied Pidgeotto.

Pidgeotto then rapidly charged at the Bulbasaur with lightning speed and struck the charging Bulbasaur. The Bulbasaur then was thrown in air by Pidgeotto's Aerial Ace attack and landed hard on its stomach.

'_Ouch_, _that __had __to __hurt __I __bet_,' commented Clefairy from Anna's shoulder.

'_Yeah_, _no __kidding_,' added Pikachu.

'_How __do __you __like __that_?' Pidgeotto asked Bulbasaur.

'_You'll __have __to __do __better __than __that __to __take __me __down_,' countered Bulbasaur.

The Bulbasaur then used a Vine Whip attack on Pidgeotto and did some damage but smacked Pidgeotto across her face and caused Pidgeotto spin out control and fall out of the sky. Pidgeotto fell to the ground was quite dizzy.

'_Can __someone __stop __the __spinning_?' asked Pidgeotto. '_I_'_d__l ike __to __get __off __right __now_.'

'_I __can __help __with __that_,' Bulbasaur said with a grin as he readied another Vine Whip.

"Pidgeotto, return," said Ash as he recalled the bird Pokémon and reached for another Pokéball. "Go Butterfree!"

'_Another __good __choice_,' replied Pikachu.

Ash's Butterfree was eager to get out and battle once again.

"Butterfree, use Silver Wind," Ash ordered Butterfree.

'_Gladly_,' replied Butterfree as he unleashed a stream of silver wind at Bulbasaur.

"Ash, you goofball!" exclaimed Anna. "Bulbasaur isn't just a Grass Pokémon. It's also part Poison!"

"What?" Ash said, blinking in surprise. "Oh, crud… that means that Bug type attacks only do normal damage against him… Oh, well, no matter! There are other ways I can use to catch this Pokémon! Butterfree, use Confusion against it!"

"_Alright!_" Butterfree concentrated hard and sent a pulse of psychic energy against the Grass/Poison type, lifting it telekinetically off the ground and hurling it towards a nearby bush! Bulbasaur squeaked in surprise and extended a pair of whip-like vines from the enclosed flower on his back, using them to grab a hold of a pair of branches above him, and slowing down his fall. He was able to land easily on all fours and quickly stabilized himself, getting ready for another attack.

"_Hmm__… __guess __this __guy __is __better __than __we __thought__…_" Butterfree reasoned. "_Could __it __be __that __he __belongs __to __another __trainer?_"

"What kind of trainer might live here, of all places?" Misty asked herself. "It seems strange to me that Bulbasaur might belong to someone living around here…"

"Still, this doesn't change the fact that this one is pretty tough…" Ash commented, trying to think of a way to counter Bulbasaur's attacks. "Okay then, guess it's time to use a different strategy… Butterfree, use Stun Spore!"

The giant butterfly complied immediately, and shook his delicate wings to scatter a luminescent dust all over the field, covering Bulbasaur as well. The strange plant creature widened his eyes in surprise and struggled to get away as his movements became sluggish, and his whip-like vines lost strength, flopping down the ground.

"That's a good idea, Ash! Slowing him down should make it easier on you… but be careful of his own status-changing moves!" Brock advised. Luckily, there seemed to be no need for him and Butterfree to be alarmed, as Bulbasaur had been paralyzed and was having trouble fighting back.

"_Ugh__… __you __are __good, __aren__'__t__you__…_" Bulbasaur muttered as he weakly tried to strike with his vines again. Butterfree took a bit of altitude and tried to aim another attack at Bulbasaur in order to weaken him enough for Ash to capture, and the young boy was ready to throw a Pokéball at the Pokémon, when…

"Please, stop it!" the voice of a girl pleaded, as a young woman with long midnight blue hair tied in a large braid, and dressed in red overall and trainers over a pink shirt, came out of the woods and rushed to the scene of the battle, intending to stop it. "You must be Pokémon trainers, right? Please, stop fighting… Bulbasaur only wanted to protect that Oddish!"

"_Melanie?_" Bulbasaur exclaimed, turning to the girl in amazement. Needless to say, Brock had immediately turned to the newcomer, and his eyes, perpetually closed to begin with, turned into a comical pair of pink hearts!

Ash, Anna and Misty were quite surprised by the appearance of that person, and blinked as they looked at her. "Ah… we're sorry about that as well, miss…" Ash said, while Butterfree gently positioned himself on his trainer's shoulder. "But… who are you? Are you Bulbasaur's trainer, perhaps?"

The girl did a small smile and gently shook her head as she picked up Bulbasaur. "No, I'm not… and I'm not even a trainer, for that matter…" she answered. "My name is Melanie, and I'm the caretaker of the Hidden Pokémon Village. I take care of Pokémon who have been abandoned by their trainers, or were injured and have no place to go. I guess you could call me a Pokémon nurse, only I don't have an official license…"

"The Hidden Pokémon Village? Never heard of it…" Ash asked, scratching his cheek. Pikachu put the palm of his hand to his face for that.

"_Well, __duh! __It __wouldn__'__t __be __much __of __a __Hidden __Village __if __everyone __had __heard __about __it, __now __would __it?_" Pikachu answered, shaking his head. Ash sweat dropped in embarrassment, realizing that he had just asked a stupid question.

"Er… darn, you're right, Pikachu…" he murmured. "Man, sometimes I say such stupid things…"

"You should remember to switch your brain on before you open your mouth, you know…" Misty murmured, giving Ash a somewhat disgruntled look. Ash answered with a nasty glare of his own, as if to say it wasn't really necessary to remark upon that…

Anna coughed, trying to steer the conversation back to the original point. "Well, if that is the case… I guess I should apologize. I saw that Oddish just walk out of those bushes, and I thought it was a wild Pokémon… and Bulbasaur just intervened to save her. I'm sorry, I didn't know that Oddish was one of the Pokémon you had in your care. By the way, my name is Anna… and these are Clefairy and Beedrill, two of my Pokémon!"

"_Pleased __to __meet __you!_" the pink fairy greeted.

"_Likewise__… __and __I __apologize __too!_" the giant hornet buzzed. "_I __was __the __one __who __attacked __Oddish __first._"

"Don't worry… it's all cleared up now!" Melanie said, smiling politely at the girl and her Pokémon. Bulbasaur just grunted, turning away from Ash and his friends, as he clearly still distrusted them…

"Well, then… guess I should introduce myself as well!" Ash answered. "My name is Ash, and I'm Anna's twin brother. These are two of my own Pokémon, my Pikachu and my Butterfree!"

As the electric mouse and the giant butterfly both greeted, Misty stepped forward. "My name is Misty… and I'm travelling with Ash and Anna because I want to reach my goal of being the best Water-type trainer in the world!" she said.

And just then, Brock took Melanie's hand gently and smiled at the confused girl, coming up with yet another of his pickup lines! "And I, fair Melanie, am Brock, the man of your life." He said, trying to put up a gentlemanly look. "My goal is to be the best Pokémon breeder there is, and to find the girl with which I will share my whole life… and I think I have just fulfilled one of these two goals!"

"_Hey! __Hands__off, __you __Casanova!_" Bulbasaur exclaimed, and the bulb on his back came to life and breathed a cloud of Stun Spores on the Rock-type expert's face!

_Oh __hell__… _thought Brock, being paralyzed by the attack, causing him to fall to the ground and land on his back.

"Don't mind Brock here, he is always like that whenever he's near a cute girl" explained Misty, a bit annoyed with Brock's flirting towards every girl they cross paths with and pulled him away by the ear.

* * *

In the meanwhile, a familiar trio of thieves was hiding within some bushes overhearing the conversation first hand. "Well…. What do we have here?" grinned Jessie, she never thought that there would be a Hidden Village. "Looks like there's someone who would 'help us' make finding that place a whole lot easier."

"Let's just hope the rumors about this so called village are true Jess…" added James with a silent laugh, wanting to make sure that they wouldn't get busted.

It was then that Meowth popped up and laughed a bit as well. "Just wait and see what we of Team Rocket have got planned for you…. You little village, plus if we play our cards right then not only will we get the Pokémon there but also that prized Pikachu as well."

"For now, we'll just hear what those twerps are talking about for the time being" began James, to which Jessie and Meowth remained silent, nodding their heads as they decided to continue to overhear what was happening.

* * *

However, they weren't the only ones, who have their sights on Ash and his friends, as a mysterious tall dark-skinned man with a toned-up body, showing that he had been exercising every day, short black hair, a scar on his face, wearing a sleeveless Rocket uniform, black sun-glasses, black boots and had a what appears to be a mechanical right hand, was watching from afar as well. He didn't say anything as he emotionlessly glared at the four younger trainers before he received a call. "You called sir?" he spoke in an uncaring tone onto his communicator.

"Yes I have, now tell me… have you found them?" came a deep male voice from the mechanical hand, which the communicator was built into.

"Of course I have, but that's not all… they seem to be listening to what appear to be a group of Pokémon Trainers, however it also appears that as of currently, Jessie, James and Meowth are the only members to have managed to allude capture unfortunately."

"I see… for now, just keep an eye on them and on the trainers themselves, I have heard some rumors that these young trainers might be responsible for ruining our plans at Mt. Moon as well as at Cerulean City" began the voice, informing whoever he was talking to on what he needs to do until the time comes. "However, should they continue to do so… I want you to eliminate them!"

"As you wish sir, and what about the Three Stooges themselves?" asked the mysterious man in question, knowing that Jessie, James and Meowth are considered expendable.

"That is of no importance right now, just continue to keep an eye on the trainers for the time being and you will be needed should the time arrive."

"Very well then, it will be done…" communication was soon cut and the man fixed his sun-glasses a bit before he went on with his currently assigned task at hand, of course he didn't think that these children would even consider standing in the way of Team Rocket seeing as they wouldn't dare to stand against what they have planned and he can understand the Crimson Fox having gotten in the way many times but not children. No matter, he will wait until he is needed to step in to deal with this small problem soon enough.

_'But there's that mysterious person that seems to be foiling our plans that needs to be dealt with,'_ thought the mysterious man as he disappeared into the foliage.

* * *

There many Bug and Grass Pokémon in the Mysterious Village. There were other Pokémon there being cared for as well. Brock had been helping Melanie take care of some of the Pokémon. Misty and the Ketchum siblings decided to help out as well. But Misty began to wonder why Brock was helping Melanie out.

"Something tells me you're trying to Melanie to fall for you," Misty said to Brock in a playful mischievous tone.

"Shh, not so loud," hissed Brock as he hit Misty on her head.

"I knew it!" Anna exclaimed as she joined Misty. "You got the hots for Melanie!"

Brock dashed over and whacked her on the head with a mallet that he apparently had skillfully hidden under his jacket.

"S-stop! She'll hear you," Brock said to Anna as he slapped his hand on Anna's mouth.

"Brock's in love Melanie," Anna said muffed while Brock's hand was still on her mouth.

Brock then whacked Anna on the head once again to keep her quiet.

"Brock and Melanie sitting in a tree," began Misty as she hooted with laughter.

Brock was really turning red in embarrassment from Misty and Anna's constant teasing. They were somewhat right about Brock as he was trying to get Melanie to like him

"I said to stop that," Brock said as he was blushing even redder than before.

"K-I-S-S-I-N-G," continued Misty as she playfully winked at Brock.

"Alright, come on the Water Pokémon in the small pond could use your attention," said Brock as he had pulled Misty by her ear and was pulling her towards the said pond. "Enough with your teasing and tomfoolery."

"Ow, ow, ow, that hurts," said Misty as her left ear was in pain and it hurt her as Brock pulled her away from the log cabin. Ash, for his part, was assisting Melanie in feeding some strange bug-like Pokemon that were chilling in a square of soft soil… and he sweat dropped slightly at the sight of Brock getting embarrassed and the girls teasing him.

"Well they sure look like they're having fun, don't they?" Ash murmured, looking at Pikachu as the yellow mouse was busy seeding the soil. His starter Pokemon shrugged his shoulders at that.

"_They are… Then again, considering how Brock falls for every pretty girl his age, I'm not surprised! I swear, at times he's just too easy to tease!_" he commented, before smiling and nodding to the Grass-type Pokemon he was tending to: they looked like large crabs the size of a basketball, red all over, with large eyes and several tiny legs on the sides of their bodies, as well as a pair of pincers on their front paws. However, more peculiar than that were the tiny mushrooms growing out of the strange Pokemon's back. Curious to know more about that species, Ash consulted Dexter and pointed it at one of the crab-like Pokemon.

"_Paras, the Mushroom Pokemon._" Came the explanation from the portable encyclopaedia. "_A parasitic mushroom grows from this Pokemon's back, and as Paras burrows to eat roots and berries, the mushroom draws nutrients from its host. They are very docile and shy, and depend on their mushrooms' spores for protection._"

Ash nodded, thinking to himself that this was quite an interesting kind of Pokemon… then, he looked around, asking himself where another Pokemon had gone. "Hmm… Melanie, I don't see Bulbasaur anywhere! Where has he gone to?"

"Oh, Bulbasaur." Melanie said calmly while watering the little Bellsprouts. "Well, he usually hangs around with me and helps me with tending to the garden and the Pokemon… but I guess today is a different case, as you are here… Bulbasaur doesn't trust humans very much, only me."

"_I understand…_" Pikachu said with a sigh. "_Not that I can blame him, of course… He's been abandoned by his former trainer as well, right?_"

"I think so… sadly, not all trainers care about their Pokemon, some of them only consider them as weapons with which to fight other trainers and win some glory for themselves." Melanie admitted sadly, which caused Ash to think back, once again, of the cold-hearted trainer he had met in Viridian Forest. He had not crossed paths with Paul anymore since meeting him at Pewter Gym, but he did know that, sooner or later, he would have to confront him… possibly even at the Indigo League.

"Yeah, I know what you mean, Melanie, I've known one of those people myself…" Ash answered. "But still, I would like it to show Bulbasaur that not all trainers are like that and that he should give people another chance…"

"That's what I always hope… but very few people ever show up here, and Bulbasaur only has me to look at." Melanie explained, a little sadly. "He trusts me, because he thinks I'm an exception to the rule, but he's too jaded by having been abandoned by his former trainer to ever trust humans fully again."

"_Well, I think I might change that soon!_" Pikachu said with a wink. "_Just hold on a second, I'll go call Bulbasaur for you!_"

"Huh? Hey, Pikachu, where are you going?" Melanie exclaimed, as she kept distributing food to the Paras that were scuttling close to her. Ash blinked a couple times as he watched his starter run off to another part of the garden… and then smiled to himself, understanding what Pikachu wanted to do.

"I think he just wants to speak with Bulbasaur… let him try, if anyone can convince Bulbasaur to trust people again, that's Pikachu!" the young boy said.

Sitting under a large oak tree, Bulbasaur was staring angrily at the grass, mulling over what had happened that day… especially the trainers who had stumbled upon the garden and had tried to capture him and Oddish. The cute weed-like Pokemon was hopping around close by, without a care in the world, but Bulbasaur was too busy brooding to be happy for her.

"_Why did those trainers have to come here?_" he muttered to himself. "_They are all the same, after all. They act nice, but when they don't need a Pokemon anymore, they just drop it off and go on their merry way! It's disgusting…_"

"_That's not true! Ash and Anna would never do that!_" Pikachu's voice came, startling the Grass / Poison type, who turned in that direction in surprise and saw the electric mouse approaching, waving a hand. "_Sorry if I am disturbing you, but I wanted to talk to you about trainers… you know, not all of them are jerks like the one who left you._"

"_Tch… and who are you to know?_" Bulbasaur grunted, not turning completely in Pikachu's direction. "_You just started your journey, who's to say your trainer will not leave you alone as soon as he finds a stronger Pokemon?_"

Pikachu smiled as he saw Oddish shyly hiding herself behind Bulbasaur. "_I know… because I've seen how much Ash and Anna care about their Pokemon and other people!_" he answered. "_You're right that there are some bad people who treat Pokemon badly… like those Team Rocket guys, or that jerk Paul we've met… but there are nice people too, you should give humans another chance. They just might surprise you._"

Bulbasaur remained silent at this and gave Pikachu a simple glare at this though at the same time, he started keeping in mind to what he was being told.

* * *

In the meanwhile, Jessie, James and Meowth were making their way towards the location of the Hidden Village though they didn't have much luck with finding it as there were indeed traps to keep it exact whereabouts hidden, hence the name. "Dammit! This is the third hole we've fallen into today!" snapped Jessie, not liking being stuck in another hole that she, James and Meowth are trapped inside of. "How come nobody falls into our traps but we always fall into theirs?!"

"Well this one was cleverly hidden, well-made and…" James never got to finish what he was going to say as his human partner in crime interrupted with anger in her voice.

"I'm glad you enjoy it so much!"

"To think, this whole mess started earlier when we began our search…" began Meowth, having a flashback to the beginning of their mission from after having spied on the four trainers and that young woman a while back.

* * *

_Flashback_

* * *

_The Team Rocket Trio was crossing the bridge as they have a feeling that the Hidden Village and its Pokemon were just at the other side of the cliff and they want nothing to stand in their way for when they arrive. "Across this bridge is a lifetime supply of Pokemon" smirked Jessie, not wanting to wait for when they make their move on their foes._

"_I have no doubt about it Jess" laughed James, though another thought came to his mind after agreeing with her. "However how are we going to carry them all?"_

"_Don't worry Jimmy-boy, we'll cross that bridge when we come to it" said Meowth, following close behind but what they didn't know was that the bridge itself was booby-trapped just in case anyone was to search for the Village and the ropes on the end where they started from broke, causing the trio the fall to the ground bellow._

* * *

_End of Flashback_

* * *

_What else could possibly go wrong?_ thought Meowth, having managed to get out of the hole that the three of them were previously in and they all continued through their trek to the Hidden Village's location but they would fail to notice that another trap was waiting for them and as they walked passed a nearby tree, they were all caught within a net that pulled them up the tree itself.

"You and your big-mouth!" snapped James as he and Jessie were fighting to try and break free of their binds, though Meowth was not happy that his tail was being pulled as well without having much luck at all. "Get us out of here!"

* * *

Back at the Hidden Village, Anna was looking around to see if she could find the Oddish that she tried to capture earlier. Feeling about earlier and wanted to make it up to her in a way, it was then she noticed the small group of Bellsprouts that Melanie watered and decided tomake her way towards where they were dancing and took a deep breath before speaking. "Excuse me" she said, hoping to get their attention without causing a problem. "Can you tell me where Oddish is; I want to talk to her if that's alright with you?"

"_I think I saw her right there._" One of the Bellsprouts said. "_In fact, I believe she was talking to Bulbasaur and your brother's Pikachu only a couple minutes ago._"

Anna winked "Thank you very much!" she said, before going off to see Bulbasaur and Oddish, who were still sitting under the oak tree. Both of them were reflecting on what Pikachu had told Bulbasaur earlier, and the strange lizard-like Pokemon, in particular, was somewhat at a loss as to how he should react to what Pikachu had told him. His past experiences with people had jaded him, but he realized that Pikachu and the other Pokemon belonging to Ash and his friends were too affectionate for it to be a ruse…

He was shaken out of his thoughts as Anna walked up to him, and the Pokemon turned an angry glare at her. The girl, for her part, smiled apologetically and waved to the two Grass / Poison types. "Hello… sorry, I know I'm probably not welcome here, but… there was something I just needed to tell Oddish."

"_Oddish?_" Bulbasaur noted, turning to the weed-like Pokemon, who just blinked in confusion. After thinking about it for a moment, he snorted and reluctantly shifted aside. "_Hmph. She's right here. You can speak to her, but I'm going to stay here in case you try anything funny. And if you do, you'll regret it._"

Anna nodded with a smile. "Thanks, Bulbasaur… don't worry, I'm not going to do anything strange!" she said, before she turned to Oddish, who looked like she was unsure what to make of the girl. "Hello, Oddish… how are you doing? I… hope you aren't angry at me for trying to catch you earlier today…"

"_I'm okay, don't worry…_" Oddish answered with a slight nod. Anna cleared her throat before continuing on.

"You see, I thought you were a wild Pokemon… so I thought there was no harm done if I tried to catch you." Anna answered. "And in any case, I was going to treat you with care and respect. Though… I guess you are suspicious of us humans… if what Melanie said is true, then I can't really blame you…"

Oddish sighed. "_I was caught by a trainer named Damien a few weeks ago…_" she answered sadly. "_He was very harsh to me and his Pokemon… and in the end, after only a couple of days; he said that I was a failure, and that he didn't need me for his team. So he abandoned me… he told me to wait by a river, and that he'd soon be back to pick me up, but he never came back._"

"Well, he's a fine jerk alright…" Anna answered with a frown. "Yeah, I can see where you're coming from, Oddish… but I can assure you that not all trainers are like that, and there are many people who love and respect their Pokemon. My brother and I, for one…"

Clefairy, who had followed her trainer all the way there, nodded for confirmation. "_It's true, Oddish! The reason why I agreed to leave my home on Mt. Moon and travel with Anna was not just because I knew I would see many beautiful things… but also because I felt that she and her brother cared a lot about their Pokemon and would treat them right. And I was not disappointed!_" she winked and gave a thumbs-up, which caused Oddish to sigh and start reflecting hard. Bulbasaur himself had to grudgingly admit that Anna did not seem like the kind of person who would lie with a straight face.

Finally, after thinking for a few moments, Oddish made up her mind. "_Well… I guess you do have a point, Anna… I'm still a little unsure, but I am willing to give you human another chance… say, Bulbasaur, what do you think? I think… we could trust these kids, couldn't we?_"

Bulbasaur sighed. "_Man, I'm not sure…_" he said, shaking his head doubtfully.

Anna frowned a bit, knowing that Bulbasaur won't be so easy to convince that not all trainers are bad but she couldn't help but think that it must have happened to him as well and turned her attention back towards Oddish. However just before she could speak, she and Clefairy noticed something in the sky that made the two cringe. 'Is something the matter?' wondered Oddish, witnessing the expression on the brunette's face.

"Not those guys again…." She said with anger, as appearing above the Hidden Village was none other than a certain trio of thieves as they spoke their infamous Team Rocket motto once more and were grinning as they saw the village in sight.

"At long last, we've finally found them…" laughed Jessie, knowing that their newest invention would prove to be quite useful to them for this mission. "Time for us to attack the village."

"Those idiots thought those traps would be enough to stop us and give them the home team advantage" added James, raising his rose to his face as he said that. "However, their luck has finally run out."

"Exactly, especially since we're the home team now" said Jessie with a grin on her face and if her hunch is correct, the trainers who got in their way earlier would be in the area as well.

"I congratulate myself for coming up with such a brilliant scheme."

Meowth soon joined in and with a wicked thought in mind, he said. "Don't forget, I was the one who suggested tying balloons onto the stadium roof." Both partners in crime nodded, confirming that they acknowledge it to him.

"Don't worry Meowth, we are aware that you did" began James, the machine slowly landed on the ground bellow them, catching the attention of Melanie, Ash, Pikachu, Brock and Misty not too far from them.

"Oh that's just great…" muttered Ash, not liking the looks of this and realized that the trio must have followed them to the village somehow. Upon their appearance to the trainers before them, Jessie began her speech.

"Today only at Jessie's Stadium, we bring you the Team Rocket Pokemon Challenge!"

"Jess, the flying stadium was my idea!" James wasn't too happy with Jessie trying to take credit for something that he himself came up with then turned his attention back towards their foes with a serious expression on his face. "Now, let's get started shall we?"

A giant vacuum tube appeared inside of the machine and hovered itself above the Village itself, making everyone present wondering what the three are planning to do but know that it can't be good at all as it soon began to suck in anything within the area. "All Pokemon are welcome to enter the stadium!" Jessie spoke, knowing that this plan was fool proof and even Pikachu would be among those to get sucked in.

"Step right up!" added James.

"Yeah, we're not hosing you…. Well maybe we are!"

"Damn you…" scowled Ash, managing to save a Staryu from being sucked towards the machine though he's worried about the Pokemon that are living in the village as well and knew that in order to save them all, they needed to stop that hose. "Those guys never run out of ideas do they?"

"Hurry, everyone get into the cabin!" yelled Brock, quickly getting the Pokemon inside the cabin and went to help Melanie as well while Misty and Anna were trying to save any Pokemon that can't make it there themselves. However, as soon as Anna looked around, she saw that Oddish was too far away to be able to save herself, and was about to get sucked in!

"Oh, no… Oddish!" Anna exclaimed, and just then, Oddish was lifted off the ground and screamed as she was sucked towards the machine! Luckily, Bulbasaur saw that and extended a pair of whip-like vines from his sides, wrapping them around Oddish and keeping her from getting lifted up!

"_That was close…_" Bulbasaur said to himself. "_Ugh… I must try to… hold my ground here…_"

The vaccuum tube was drawing them in with great force, and try as he might, Bulbasaur was slowly getting dragged towards the machine. He grit his teeth and tried to hold tight to the closest thing he could find… but he was unable to reach anything in time, and was about to lose his hold!

"Anna, Bulbasaur won't be able to hold for long!" Ash said, holding his Pikachu tight. "Can you try to get him and Oddish… and get them to safety? I'll try to hold off Team Rocket! Pikachu, buddy… you with me?"

"_You got it, Ash!_" Pikachu squeaked. "_I'm going to show those jesters what's what!_"

"I can try, Ash…" Anna answered. She, too, was holding her Clefairy in her arms, trying not to let her be sucked in by Team Rocket. As Ash tried to grab a Pokeball from his belt, his sister began inching towards Bulbasaur and Oddish, who were seconds away from losing their grip and getting sucked in.

"Hey! What's the twerpette trying to do?" Jessie exclaimed. Anna was now only a few inches away from Bulbasaur… and just as the two Grass / Poison types were lifted off the ground, the girl dashed forward and grabbed them with her free hand, doing her best not to let them go!

"_Huh? You?_" Bulbasaur exclaimed, surprised that Anna would still save him after he was mean to her and Ash.

"Yeah, me!" Anna said with a wink. "I sure as heck couldn't leave you here at Team Rocket's mercy, right?"

"And that's not all, because I'm going to help out too!" Ash exclaimed, throwing his Pokeball in the air. "Go, Pidgeotto! Stop that machine as soon as you can!"

"_I'm already on it, Ash!_" the giant pigeon exclaimed, spreading his wings as he flew towards the vaccuum tube. The Normal / Flying Pokemon had such strength in his wings that he could manage to resist the sucking effect at least for a while. Long enough to get close to the tube and attack with one of the moves Ash had recently taught him!

"Pidgeotto, use Aerial Ace!" Ash called out to his bird Pokemon. Pidgeotto screeched in assent and threw himself at the vacuum tube at maximum speed, striking it with his beak with pinpoint precision!

"Oh crap..." muttered James before he, Jessie and Meowth were sucked right into the vaccum itself upon its position being changed towards where they were currently standing.

"Way to go! Now it's time we send them packing, use Gust!" Pidgeotto flapped its wings at fast speed before a tornado was formed around the stadium itself, causing it to be pulled into the attack with the trio inside. "Let's finish this, Pikachu…. Use your Thundershock!"

Pikachu nodded, cheeks sparking up as he let out a powerful Electric-Type attack onto the stadium itself, ultimately causing it to short-circuit and explode…. The three Rocket Members cursed Ash as they were sent blasting off once more.

"Is everyone okay?" asked Melanie, coming out of the cabin with Brock and Misty while hoping that no one was hurt earlier and to also see if everyone is present and accounted for.

"I'm alright, but I feel like I got the wind knocked out of me…" answered Ash, before noticing that Oddish was making her way towards him and Anna with a light smile on her face when she did so which made the two trainers return the smile as the rest of the Pokemon began gathering around them. "Fortunately, none of the Pokemon here in the Village was taken."

Melanie remained silent for a moment and put some thought in it before she spoke. "Ash, I was wondering…. Don't you agree that Bulbasaur will make a great addition to you team?" she asked with a light smile, catching the trainers off-guard at this.

"Yeah, but what are you saying?" he asked her, wondering what she meant by what she means when she said that.

"I think Bulbasaur should go with you…" said the blue-haired girl, picking Bulbasaur up into her arms before continuing. "He stayed here to help me look after the weaker Pokemon but the village itself too small and the bulb on his back can't grow that way so he needs to go out into the world now but I'm sure that you'll take good care of him... so please take Bulbasaur with you on your journey, he will be a good companion."

"Melanie, what will happen to the village without Bulbasaur?" Misty tried to protest against this as she was worried about the fate of the village should he actually join Ash as his Pokemon.

Brock joined in and said. "Misty's right, if he leaves then who is going to protect you?"

"It's true that Bulbasaur has done a great job in looking after the village, maybe too great a job… but you see these Pokemon shouldn't remain in the village forever, after they get better, they're suppose to leave but it's too safe here so none of them want to go away… they don't want to return to the outside world…" this made Oddish look a bit down at what Melanie was saying then turned towards Anna. "I think it's important that all of them return to the wild, that's where Pokemon belong and hopefully someday, they'll find good trainers like you, of course taking care of sick Pokemon will always be my mission but I know my job isn't finished until they return where they belong so it's the day a Pokemon leaves is what's most rewarding to me."

"Melanie, I…."

"So it's time for Bulbasaur to leave here, so Ash please take him with you I promise he won't be a burden to you" explained Melanie, knowing that Ash will definitely be the trainer who would take in the Grass/Poison-Type. "He still has a lot of growing to do so I want him to be in a place where I'm sure he'll grow strong and happy. I'm sure that place is with you."

Ash took in what she said, and then a smile formed before he gave her his reply. "If you really want me to, then sure…. I'll do it."

"_I'm fine with it…_" Bulbasaur said. "_But first, I'd like to challenge his Pikachu to a battle to see if he's strong enough!_"

"_You just have to say it, pal!_" the electric mouse answered, stepping forward and charging up his cheeks as he got into a fighting pose. Bulbasaur smiled slightly and squatted down on all fours… then, almost without warning, he let loose with a barrage of Razor Leaves that Pikachu barely managed to avoid by dodging to his left. Then, the Electric-type ran towards Bulbasaur, who extended his Vine Whips to catch him, and smacked him hard, causing him to flinch for a second. But Pikachu quickly stood up again and jumped away, just as a second blow was coming his way!

"Don't give it up, Pikachu! Use Thunder Wave to stop Bulbasaur in his tracks!" Ash exclaimed. Pikachu smiled and let loose with a faint electrical discharge, just as Bulbasaur was about to attack again… and the Grass/Poison type was hit and paralyzed, a surprised expression painted on his face as even his vines were locked in place!

"Great job, Pikachu! Follow it up with Slam!" Ash ordered. With a start, Pikachu dashed towards Bulbasaur and hit him with the full brunt of his body, sending Bulbasaur tumbling to the ground much to the other Pokemon's surprise! The plant creature managed to pick himself up again, though… and after wobbling a little on his paws, he gave Pikachu a content smile and bowed his head.

"_Yes, I'm satisfied! You really are strong enough… you earned my respect, you were right in saying that not all humans are as bad as I thought._" Bulbasaur said, causing Pikachu to smile and nod as the Grass/Poison type stood up, ready to get caught. "_Well then… I don't think I need to say more! Go on, Ash, throw your Pokeball!_"

Smiling, Ash took aim and launched a Pokeball, which touched Bulbasaur on his head and sucked him in. The sphere danced for a couple seconds… but because the Pokemon had willingly let himself be caught, there was no problem about it staying inside, and the capture was confirmed soon enough!

"Alright! I got a Bulbasaur!" Ash exclaimed in victory.

"_Awesome! Go Team Ketchum!_" Pikachu said, waving his thunderbolt-shaped tail!

Anna clapped briefly at that, before turning to Oddish. "Well, I'm glad for you, Ash! But now, I think it's time for me to include a Grass-type in my team!" she stated. Then, she winked at Oddish and motioned for her to come. "So, Oddish, what do you say? Would you like to come with me on our journey? You can be sure that you won't regret it!"

"_Oh… that would be fantastic!_" the weed-like Pokemon answered as she ran to Anna. As the Ketchum girl knelt down to pick her up, Oddish jumped into her waiting arm and gave her a peck on the cheek as a sign of affection, which caused Anna to tear up a little in happiness!

"Alright, then… it's decided!" Anna exclaimed, hugging her newly-found friend.

For her part, Misty was interested in having a new Pokemon as well, and cast a quick glance at the pond where several Water-types were swimming peacefully. "Say, Melanie… do you think I could have a Pokemon as well? Maybe one of those swimming in that pond?" she asked the caretaker, who simply nodded in assent.

"Of course you can, Misty!" she answered. "Those Pokemon would be very happy to be able to have a trainer once again… I'm sure they would be all grateful if you picked one of them!"

"Thank you… now; let's see what kind of Pokemon I might catch…" she said, taking a small fishing rod out of her backpack, and looking for a good point where to start. "Hmm… I would very much fancy an Horsea or a Tentacool, but still…"

Unfortunately for her, as she was busy pondering which Pokemon she could catch, a Pokeball slipped out of her backpack and rolled on the ground, where it bounced towards the water and fell in! Misty was quick to turn around and try to pick it up again… but one of the Pokemon of the pond, a goofy-looking red fish with long whiskers, its body covered in hard scales, sporting a crown-shaped dorsal fin, and a similarly shaped one under its stomach, was faster than she was and touched the Pokeball curiously with its head, causing it to activate… and suck the Pokemon in!

"Ah!" Misty exclaimed. "No, wait! That was not the Pokemon I wanted…"

It was too late, as the Pokeball shook slightly for a few seconds… and then lay still, signalling that Misty had a new Pokemon despite everything! The red-haired girl gritted her teeth and sighed angrily, almost dropping her fishing rod in dismay! "Uuugh… I can't believe it! Here I thought I was going to get a beautiful Water-type… and I'm stuck with a pathetic Magikarp instead!"

"Why? What's wrong about Magikarp?" Ash asked, consulting his Pokedex. The answer came soon enough, as Dexter began narrating the fact about that particular Pokemon.

"_Magikarp, the Fish Pokemon._" It said, showing a picture of the same red-skinned fish Misty had just caught. "_It is considered the weakest Pokemon in the world. In combat, it can only splash around ineffectually. However, it is very hardy and can survive even in extremely polluted waters._"

Ash, Anna, Pikachu, Clefairy and Brock all sweat dropped as Misty grumpily took her Pokeball, resigned to become the Magikarp's trainer. "Oh… that explains a lot." Anna said, feeling a little sorry for Misty.

However, Melanie didn't seem worried in the least. "Hey, don't be disappointed about it, Misty… I know Magikarps aren't good battlers, but I'd advise you to still train him with patience and understanding. I'm sure you'll be surprised in the end!" she said, causing Misty to blink in surprise.

"Do you really think so?" Misty asked. When Melanie answered by nodding twice, Misty sighed and took a good look at her new Pokeball, hoping the caretaker was right. "Oh, well… since you've just become a member of my team, I guess the only thing to say is… welcome, Magikarp! I just wish I won't regret this…"

"_Well, it's been quite an eventful day, anyway!_" Clefairy said. "_Ash got a Bulbasaur, Anna got an Oddish, Misty got a Magikarp… and we've all made new friends! I guess you can say we can be satisfied, right?_"

"_Yeah, I think so as well!_" Pikachu answered, causing everyone to chuckle in amusement!

* * *

The time has come for Ash and co to say goodbye to Melanie as they will be continuing their journey very shortly. "Have a safe trip" said the blue-haired girl, smiling brightly at the trainers while knowing that she might see them again one day.

"Don't worry, I promise we'll take good care of our new Pokemon" reassure Ash before Melanie glanced down towards Bulbasaur then with a happy expression on her face, she finally spoke.

"Thank you for watching over us Bulbasaur."

It was then that Brock went towards the young girl and he said. "I was thinking, since Bulbasaur is leaving I'd thought that I might stay here and help you out here in the village."

"It's really kind of you but we'll be okay" explained Melanie, though she was grateful to Brock for the kind gesture much to his slight disappointment. "After all, I wouldn't want to keep you away from all your wonderful adventures."

"I guess your right…" he said before the four trainers made their way towards Vermillion City and they waved goodbye to Melanie and the Pokemon that were still at the Village, gesture that was easily returned.

"Goodbye Melanie!" Ash called out to her, then after a while he turned his attention towards his new Bulbasaur. "Don't worry about a thing Bulbasaur, you'll see your friends again I'm sure when the Pokemon feel better, they'll leave the Village too."

Remaining silent, Bulbasaur nodded his head as a sign that he knew that Ash would be right about that. As they were continuing their trek Misty went towards Brock with a smirk on his face and began teasing him. "So what happened between you and Melanie, did you kiss her goodbye?" she asked only for Brock to be blushing mad and covered her mouth.

"Did I miss something?" wondered Ash, confused by what's going on and it caused Anna to let out a small sigh as she held onto her Oddish.

"Don't ask," she told him before her newly caught Pokemon surprised her with a kiss on her right cheek as a way to show that she wanted to thank her for earlier, making the brunette blush a bit while smiling back.

* * *

While this was happening, the mysterious man glared at the trainers and gave a scowl as he was not too happy that Jessie, James and Meowth had once again failed in their attempt at getting Pokemon for their leader. "I should have known this would happen for the umpteenth time" he muttered to himself, having had enough of these failures. "I believe the time has come for me to take matters into my own hands… Isn't that right?"

He turned his attention towards a silhouette of a Pokemon that looked like a mantis with wings on the back. "Scy!" it said, taking its leave along with its trainer joined by another that resembled a certain Pokemon used by Samurai as they have something that they needed to take care of for the time being.


	12. The Stray Pokemon

Disclaimer: I don't own anything that Gamefreaks and TokyoTV own though I am not too happy with what's happening recently in the Unova League but I won't spoil it for those who haven't reached that far in the Japanese airings of the Black and White arc.

Pokémon: Rise of Heroes

The Stray Pokemon

By EmperorDraco7 and co-written with Lily Nadesico and NEBSparky86

"Hmm…" Ash said in disbelief, as he and his friend looked over a map Brock had just taken out of his backpack. The small team of Pokémon trainers, along with Ash's Pikachu and Anna's Clefairy, had stopped into a clearing in the woods while on their way to Vermillion City… and now, they were busy pondering where their long walk had taken them.

Sadly, an annoying truth readily became apparent.

"We are lost, aren't we?" Misty said sarcastically, shaking her head in disbelief.

Ash quickly tried to assuage the redheaded Water-type trainer. "Well… I wouldn't say that we are lost, actually! It's more like… how should I put it… we don't know our way around here and we are trying to get back on the right track! Yeah, that's it!" he said, laughing nervously at the end. Judging from the way Pikachu's ears flopped down, and how the electric mouse shook his head, it was clear that Ash wasn't fooling anybody.

"_Ash, __last __time __I __checked, __this __was __actually __called__ '__getting __lost__'…_" the electric mouse commented.

"_Yeah, __and __we __wouldn__'__t __be __here __if __you __and __Anna __hadn__'__t __insisted __on __taking __a __longer __trip __through __this __forest, __so __you __could __train __your __Pokémon __a __little __more._" Clefairy said. "_Not __that __I __really __mind __the __training, __but __still__… __we __could __have __avoided __getting __lost!_"

Anna sighed in defeat. "Okay, Clefairy… touchè. I did insist we went this way…" the female Ketchum twin murmured. "But still… we should try and get back on theright way, you know? It's quite late in the afternoon, and we should try and find a safe place where to spend the night."

"Yeah… and those clouds in the sky aren't looking too good either." Brock answered, taking his eyes off the map in order to look at the sky above them. Beyond the treetops, the sky that had until then been clear and blue was now covered in nasty-looking clouds. A storm was coming, this was pretty much a given.

Knowing that things couldn't be settled by just standing around and complaining, Misty sighed and began to walk away. "Oookay… I guess we can't do much about it for now." She said. "Look, everyone, I saw a small river nearby. I'll go there to check on my Pokémon, but I'll be back here soon, okay?"

"Okay, Misty, we'll come and call you when we're good to go anyway!" Ash answered, to which Misty smiled and nodded before walking away towards the river.

"You know, I think she does have a point…" Anna said. "We could use the time to let our Pokémon out and let them get some training, what do you think?"

"Well… that would be a good idea! Furthermore, Bulbasaur and Oddish could use some training." Ash agreed, taking out the Pokéball belonging to the newest member of his team. "Okay, Bulbasaur… let's do some practice, okay? I would like you tobe ready when we face our first battle, after all!"

Bulbasaur and Oddish appeared from their Pokéballs, letting the two Grass/Poison types out, and both of them smiled happily at the prospect of getting some training. "_That__'__s __good __to __know, __Ash! __I __was __starting __to __get __a __little __restless __there!_" Bulbasaur said.

"_Yeah, __me __too!_" was Oddish's comment. "_Besides, __if __I __want __to __be __useful __to __Anna, __I__'__d __better __start __training!_"

Pikachu and Clefairy nodded to each other before stepping forward. "_Well __then__… __if __you __want, __we __can __be __your __sparring __partners! __Okay __then__… __get __ready, __because __you __guys __are __gonna __need __all __the __training __you __can __get!_" the yellow mouse stated, getting in a guard pose along with Clefairy.

Bulbasaur smiled cunningly. "_Don__'__t __underestimate __me!__There __was __a __reason __I __was __the __protector __of __the __Pokémon, __back __when __I __was __with __Melanie! __Bring __it __on!_" he said, he and Oddish getting ready to face Pikachu and Clefairy. Brock smiled at this, taking his eyes away from the map for a short while…

* * *

Meanwhile, on the river bank, Misty had let her Pokémon out to play in the water: her Staryu and Starmie, along with her Seel and her newly-caught Magikarp, which Misty sadly discovered to be, indeed, an extremely weak Pokémon. The redhead had tried to get her Pokémon some training as well, but all Magikarp had been able to do was use a completely useless Splash attack… and a very weak Tackle attack. Magikarp himself was disappointed at his own inability to do more.

"_Sigh__… __I__'__m __sorry, __Misty__… __I __really __am __a __weak __and __useless __Pokémon, __aren__'__t __I?_" Magikarp stated sadly. "_I __can __understand __why __my __former __trainer __abandoned __me__… __really, __what __use __am __I?_"

Despite her aggressive streak, Misty wasn't a heartless person, and she could see that Magikarp was trying his best, despite his weakness. So, much to the fish Pokémon's surprise, she reached out to the river and gently caressed him on the head. "Magikarp… you're doing your best, and that's all that counts, really." She answered. "I don't even care that you aren't strong… I'll admit, I was trying to catch another Pokémon back there… but I'm not going to abandon you just because you aren't as strong as I would like. And besides… I think that if you try hard enough, you can become as strong as you'd like!"

"_Do __you __really __think __so?_" Magikarp said, touched by Misty's words.

"Yes, I do… and I'm not going to give up on you, anyway!" she answered, smiling gently at the fish-like Pokémon.

Remaining silent, Magikarp was slowly begining to smile back at his new trainer as Staryu, Starmie and Seel joined them. _What __do __you __say __we __get __back __to __our __training?_Suggested the Seel with a reassuring look on his face.

"He's right, afterall I'm here to train my Pokémon and that includes you as well" the red-haired trainer told her Magikarp, knowing that she will want to show him that she does care for him no matter what.

* * *

In the meantime, as the training of Oddish and Bulbasaur was taking place, things were pretty much going well for everyone... at least until Ash noticed that Pikachu had a strange expression. "Is something wrong?" he asked his Pokémon.

_I __could __have __sworn __I __heard __something __earlier..._ began Pikachu, hoping his ears weren't playing games with him as he wondered about what he ws hearing. _I __guess __it __might __be __just __my __imagintion __then._

_Actually __you__'__re __not __the __only __one, __I __heard __it __too..._ explained Clefairy with a frown on her face when she said that more so as she doubt it would just an imagination by any chance. _What __exactly __could __it __have __been?_

_I __have __no __clue... __Let__'__s __just __get __back __to __our __training __for __now._

_Good __idea..._said Clefairy, returning to her sparring with Oddish and Pikachu did the same with Bulbsaur as both Grass/Poison-Types were proving to be able to hold their own against the two due to their time at the Hidden Village making them stronger.

"Okay, now that was strange..." frowned Anna, a bit concerned as to what it was their Pokémon heard and was hopping it wasn't anything that they won't be able to handle even though there is nothing but Spearows in this part of the area.

"Tell me about it, but hey... we'll be ready to deal with it when the time comes" said Ash with his usual grin, knowing that they could handle anything that gets thrown at them especially if it was another one of the Rocket Trio's attempts at getting their Pokémon.

"Yeah, you're right and it will help us get prepared for our upcoming third Gym Battle as if facing Brock and Misty before were a sign of things to come, we better be ready for anything."

"Trust me, I know and then there's David and Rena as they've already gotten a head start on both of us as did Gary though I have a feeling that we'll encounter those two sooner or later" Ash told her, thinking back to their friends as well as the pact they all made before they left on their journey earlier. "I'm sure they might have either beaten the Vermillion City Gym leader by now or are preparing to face the Gym like us."

Anna just gave a simple shrug, though there is some point to what he was saying more so with that they haven't seen David or Rena yet but it couldn't be helped. "Maybe..." she said, seeing that one day they might have to battle the two. "All I can say is I hope they won't have to worry about Team Rocket going after them like we have to."

"Yeah, you're right…" Ash said, before taking a suspicious look around. He had the feeling someone was watching them… and he wasn't the only one to think so!

"_I __don__'__t __know__… __I __kinda __have __the __feeling __there __is __someone __here __watching __us!_" Pikachu said, perking his ears up as a faint sound of a crackling flame reached him. "_What__'__s __going __on? __It __sounds __like __something __is __burning __around __here!_"

"What's that…?" Ash said, catching a glimpse of something burning on a large rock, close to where he and his sister were standing. The Ketchum twins, Pikachu and Clefairy turned that way in alarm… and got ready for everything!

They were almost disappointed when they saw that the crackling noise was just a small fire burning on top of the rock, and it was placed on the tip of a strange lizard-like Pokémon's tail! Looking like a small orange-skinned dragon, it was about as tall as Pikachu, with a large mouth filled with needle-like teeth and black eyes, its skin covered in fine scales, and its hands and feet adorned with small, sharp claws. It was lying on top of the rock, looking rather sad and distressed, and it raised its glance as soon as he heard Ash and his friends, regarding them with a confused expression on its face. However, the most striking feature was, in fact, that flame burning on the tip of its tail.

"Hey, but… isn't that a Charmander?" Anna asked, blinking at the strange lizard-like Pokémon.

"_Uh__… __hello__…_" Charmander said despondently, as the rest of Ash's team gathered around the place, and Ash took a good look at the Fire-type Pokémon with his Dexter. The answers came one second later, in the form of Dexter's monotonous voice.

"_Charmander ,__the __Flame __Pokémon. __It __is __a __very __lively __Pokémon __who __normally __has __a __lot __of __energy. __Its __health __can __be __discerned __by __looking __at __the __flame __on __the __tip __of __its __tail. __Take __extreme __care. __If __the __flame __ever __goes __out, __Charmander __dies._"

Clefairy frowned as she looked at the flame on that particular Charmander's tail. It didn't look very bright, and in fact, one could have seen that it was flickering somewhat. "_Huh__… __guys, __is __it __just __me, __or __that __Charmander __isn__'__t__feeling __too __good?_"

"I'm afraid not..." Brock said, folding the maps as he approached Charmander as well. "Maybe we should take him to a Pokémon Center. I don't know what's up with him, but he isn't doing so well."

"Okay…" Ash said, taking out a Pokéball and throwing it at Charmander without thinking too much about it. Much to his surprise, though, the ball didn't open, and simply clattered on the ground without even touching the Fire-type Pokémon.

"_Warning. __Stealing __Pokémon __from __other __trainers __is __forbidden._" Dexter's voice warned once again, surprising Ash and his friends to no end. So that Pokémon did actually belong to someone… so what on Earth was it doing there, all alone?

"Looks like… this Pokémon already has a trainer." Ash said in surprise. "Well then… this is quite strange! Where is Charmander's trainer, then?"

"_Please, __don__'__t__…_" Chamander said in a pleading tone. "_My __trainer __said __he__'__d __be __back __in __a __moment, __and __I __trust __him. __He__'__s __going __to __come __back __and __take __me __to __a __Pokémon __Center, __and __he __gave __me __his __word __that __he__'__d __be __back __as __soon __as __he __was __done __with __a __few __things__…_"

"_Are __you __sure, __Charmander? __You__… __don__'__t __look __too __well, __and __you __need __to __be __checked __before __your __flame __goes __out._" Pikachu tried to insist, but Charmader gently shook his head no.

"_Thank __you, __my __friends__… __but __I __want __to __be __here __for __my __trainer._" The small Fire-type answered.

"Oh man, he looks so sad..." began Anna, looking worried for the Fire-Type Pokémon and wondered who his trainer though it would be best not to ask about it as they needed to get to a Pokémon Center themselves.

"If he's waiting for someone, I think we better leave him..." suggested Brock, not liking this but if his trainer was going to come back for him then they should let him be. "I think it's for the best his trainer takes care of him."

"I don't like the sound of that but I hope his trainer comes back soon" said Ash before the group left the Charmander on the rock, not noticing that dark clouds were starting to form in the sky as they did so.

* * *

While continuing their trek to find a Pokémon Center, Ash still couldn't get Charmander off of his mind as he was still worried about the Fire-Type and while he shouldn't be, he had a bad feeling that Charmander was told to stay there on purpose like the trainer might not actually come back for him. "Hey guys! Look over there!" came Misty's voice, snapping him out of his thought a bit and turned to what Misty found. "It's the Pokémon Center!"

"Finally, we better get inside right away!" said Ash, glad that Misty had found it and they quickly made their way there, just in time too as it was starting to rain right now.

Back at the rock, Charmander was trying to protect himself from the rain with a large leaf covering a part of his body, mostly where the flame was as he didn't want the water putting it out. What he didn't know, a small flock of Spearows were nearby and they look like they were going to attack him when he least suspects it.

* * *

Inside of the Pokémon Center, Ash and his friends were watching as the storm was getting worse by the second but that was the less of Ash's worries right now as Misty brought soup for him, Anna and Brock. "I brought some soup" the red-haired trainer told her friends. "Hope you like it hot/"

Yet, Ash wasn't answering and it wasn't like him not to do so either "Ash... began Anna, taking notice to this and let out a small sigh then continued. "Are you okay?

"Yeah, I'm fine... I just can't stop thinking about that Charmander back there..."

"I'm sure he'll be fine, afterall his trainer might be out to get him right now and..." she didn't finish what she was going to say when she realized somthing important. "Wait a minute, Oddish mentioned to me that she was abanddoned by a trainer named Damian... she even told me he was going to come back for her when he left her by a river."

"Yeah but what does that..." he stopped himself as something inside just snapped and his eyes darkened. "Oh my god, if this Damian guy abanddoned Oddish then.." It was then they heard voices not too far from where they sat and noticed a group of male trainers having a conversation.

"Just look at em, this is what I call a pretty cool collection" laughed the blue-haired trainer of the group, glancing at the six Pokéballs that he had on the table and gave a grin as he examined each one.

"Way cool!"

"You're the man Damian" added the black-haired trainer, impressed with the Pokémon that the blue-haired male had with him but across from them, Ash's eyes filled with anger when he heard that name. "Wait a minute, didn't you use to have a Charmander?"

"I did but that puny thing was so weak, it couldn't even beat the weakest opponents" he told the other trainer next to him, not wanting to be seen with the Fire-Type he used to have with him.

"Bastard..." Ash gritted his teeth, he really was starting to have a bad view on that creep to which Anna, Brock and Misty were worried that he was going to do something rash without the slightiest thoughts of what will happen.

"I don't like that guys attitude..." scowled Misty.

Brock nodded to Misty's words and added. "Charmander may be weak against Water-Type Pokémon but if he and his trainer work hard, they can be strong."

"So what did you do with that Charmander?" one of Damian's friends asked him.

"I left it at some rock in the woods, I mean it's so stupid no matter what I do it keeps on following me so I finally got rid of it by saying that I would come back for it. I can't believe he fell for that trick!" laughed the blue-haired trainer, finding it amusing that his old Charmander is still waiting for him. "I bet with luck, that rain will most likely put the flame out."

"That's it..." Ash decided enough was enough and he decided to go towards that creep, thinking he needs a lesson on being a Pokémon trainer.

"Ash, what the..." Anna wondered what he was going to do as she and the others saw him making his way towards Damian and his group as they were laughing at how gulible that Charmander was at this very moment.

However, as they finished their laugh... Something happened and Damian felt a fist hitting him him hard in the face, shocking present in the area as they saw a furious Ash of all people had punched another person. "Ow..." muttered Damian, rubbing his cheek in anger. "What the fuck is your problem?!"

"My problem is that you lied to your Charmander and left him out in the rain!" Ash shouted back, getting in Damien's face threateningly. "How could you do something that heartless? You know that if the flame of Charmander's tail goes out, he will die!"

"That's none of your damn business!" Damien said, without feeling a single twinge of regret over his behaviour. "If that stupid little weakling dies, that's one less weak and useless Pokémon in the world!"

"You are disgusting…" Anna said, as she advanced towards the group of bullies, with Clefairy, Misty and Brock close behind. Damien's friends stood up and grabbed their Pokéballs, ready to start a fight.

"Do you want a piece of us, weaklings?" one of Damien's friends taunted, with a cruel snarl. Pikachu and Clefairy slid into a battle stance, and all four human trainers grabbed their own Pokéballs, seconds away from re leasing their Pokémon inside the Pokémon Center. Luckily, the Nurse Joy who was on shift at that moment took notice of this, and quickly stopped everyone before things could get rough with a double clap of her hands,

"Enough, you guys!" Joy called them out. "This is a place where sick Pokémon are cared for! We do not care for childish arguments between trainers. If you have something to argue about, do it outside of here!"

"_Aw, __come __on!_" Pikachu protested. "_At __least __let __me __give __a __shock __to __this __jerk!_"

Both Ash and Damien turned their heads at the pink-haired nurse, saying nothing for a good five seconds before Damien shrugged his shoulders uncaringly. "Feh, I don't care about any of this. You should speak to this bunch of fools, as they started it all." he said, before motioning to his gang to follow him in the other room. "C'mon, guys, let's leave this place! These idiots ain't worth it anyway!"

"Okay, Damien…" one of the bullies answered, while another one glared menacingly at Ash nd Anna, who just answered with a glare of their own.

"You don't know how lucky you imbeciles are…" he growled before following Damien and the rest of his group. The bullies walked out of the room, rudely slamming the doors as they exited, and causing Anna to wince in annoyance.

"Hmph… bunch of worthless lowlives." Misty commented.

Nurse Joy sighed annoyedly. "You know, kids, I'm not letting you off the hook that easily." She answered. "While that Damien guy is a disagreeable fellow, he does have a point when he says that you are the ones who started it. Care to explain what the problem is?"

"The problem is, we heard that Damien guy gloating about how he lied to his Charmander, saying that he would soon be back to take him back… and instead, he left Charmander alone, and now the poor thing is alone under the rain." Brock explained, to which Joy put an hand to her mouth is horror and dismay. "There is a high risk that the rain is going to put out the flame on Charmander's tail… and we know what would happen if it ever goes out, right?"

It was then that Chansey noticed that Ash was leaving. _Where __do __you __think __you __are __going?_ She asked him, watching as he got his raincoat on.

"What's it look like?" asked Ash, not in a good mood with what is happening and glanced at the pink Normal-Type. "I'm going to get Charmander and bring him back here since Damian isn't going to do so, let's go Pikachu!"

"Ash, wait!" yelled Misty, but she was too late as they were already out the door into the storm and she let out a frustrated huff. "That boy can be so stubborn!"

* * *

In the meanwhile, Charmander was still trying to protect himself from the heavy rain taking place though unfortunately it wasn't going to last as a flock of Spearows made their move and began to peck at the Fire-Type none-stock without a way to defend from the assault. However a small rock hit one of the Normal/Flying-Types on the head and it turned to see who threw it.

"Get the hell away from him!" snapped Ash, throwing another rock at the Spearows but it doesn't seem to be helping that much. "Okay, let's try this... Pikachu, use Thundershock!"

Without saying a word, Pikachu let out a powerful Electric-Type attack that shocked the Spearows so much that they eventually flew away but Ash threw a Pokéball at one of them before it could get away and watched it vibrate three times before a click confirmed that it had been captured. "That takes care of that..." he commented to himself before the ball containing the Spearow soon teleported away in a flash of white light, he didn't really care much about that as he made his way toward the rock that Charmander was on and placed the raincoat around him. "Are you okay?"

Much to his dismay, he saw that the flame was close to coming out and he needed to get him back to the Pokémon Center as quickly as possible. "Hold on, I'll get you out of the rain" he reassured the Flame Pokémon then proceeded with carrying him while running as quickly as he could. To his surprise, he saw the others were just arriving at the scene.

"Ash, are you fucking crazy!" snapped Anna, hitting her brother on back of the head with her fist out of anger. "You could have gotten sick or worse... you could have died for going out in that kind of weather!"

"Ow, what was that for?" Ash winced at the pain on the back of his head as they were heading to the Pokémon Center, though it couldn't be helped as he did go out there without any form of thinking. "I couldn't have left Charmander there to die you know..."

"But it's still no excuse for you to run out in that horrendous weather," Anna said to Ash with a slight glare. "But you better get that Charmander to Nurse Joy quickly before the flame goes out."

Ash gave a slight nod and went over to Nurse Joy with the Charmander in his arms and covered by his raincoat.

"Nurse Joy, you gotta help this Charmander," Ash insisted in desperation. "His flame is about to go out."

"How did this happen?" asked Nurse Joy.

"This Charmander was left out in the rain," explained Ash. " I took my raincoat and covered him with it to keep as dry as I could."

Nurse Joy took the Charmander from Ash and carted it away. Ash went to rejoin his sister, Misty and Brock as they were sitting in the lobby waiting for Ash to return with the Charmander. Ash cleared his throat getting their attention.

"So... did you ever find the Charmander?" asked Anna.

"Yeah, I found him out there in the rain," answered Ash as he showed a few light burn marks on the inside of his rain coat. "There's your proof too from Charmander's tail."

"Whoa," said Anna as she examined the light burn marks

"Well, you need to dry off somewhere," Misty said as she tossed him a room key for a room he was sharing with Brock. "Hurry up and go change into dry clothes before you catch a cold."

"Yes mom," Ash said to Misty in a playful tone.

Misty threw her empty soda can at Ash as she glared at him. She didn't like that Ash sarcastically called her 'mom'. "Just shut up and go already, damn it," she snarled.

Ash went to his and Brock's room and changed into dry clothes quickly and rejoined his friends and sister in the lobby as they waited to hear on Charmander's condition from Nurse Joy. 20 minutes passed until Nurse Joy returned to the lobby.

"Well Nurse Joy?" asked Anna. "Will the Charmander make it?"

"Yes," answered Nurse Joy. "All Charmander needs right now is a good night's rest and then he can go back into the wild."

"I'd rather take Charmander for myself," muttered Ash. "That prick Damien doesn't deserve to train Pokémon if he's just gonna abandon them and leave them in positions where their lives would be in danger."

"You're right about that Ash," began Anna, "but we can't just scoop up every Pokémon we find abandoned or neglected. Besides that Charmander might not... huh?" she looked outside and noticed a boy and girl pair walking past the Pokémon Center with a blue four legged Pokémon that had something ornate on its forehead and a flowing purple cape-like mane.

"Oh my, that looks like such a beautiful Pokémon," she said as she gazed at the unfamiliar Pokémon and took a look at her Pokédex to find out what it was.

_Suicune, __the __Aurora __Pokemon. __It __races __around __the __world __to __purify __fouled __water __and __it __dashes __away __with __the __north__wind._

"No way…" she was surprised this information and was curious on who the boy and girl that passed by the Pokemon Center earlier were, though on the plus side it wasn't the Team Rocket trio at the very least.

"Anna? Is something wrong?" came her brother's voice, snapping her out of her daze and getting her attention.

"I'm alright, I just saw two trainers about our age pass by the Pokemon Center and they had this Pokemon with them" she showed him the picture of the Pokemon in question on her Pokédex, causing him to be surprised by what he was seeing.

"We'll talk about that later, right now let's get some rest…" he suggested, he was bit tired from earlier and a yawn came before him, a sign that they needed some sleep if they are to continue their way to Vermillion City in the morning.

* * *

As the sun rose, a certain trio of thieves was busy plotting their next move and needless to say… they were hoping that their next plan would succeed. "Damn those twerps…" muttered James, not liking the fact that the trainers who got in their way since Mt. Moon were still preventing them from getting Pokemon for their leader. "I really hope this new plan we have will teach them a thing or two!"

"Trust me James, this plan will work and with this Hole Driller, we can trap those brats dead in their tracks and get that Pikachu!" grinned Jessie, activating their latest machine and watched as it drilled a large hole into the ground. "Perfect, next we move to Phase 2."

Once the hole was ready, the trio began to cover it up so that when Ash and his friends step on it… they will fall right into their hands. "This better work, otherwise the boss will chew us up and spit us out!" snapped Meowth, knowing that it was only a matter of time before the trainers in question would wake up to continue their journey.

"It has to work, if they're heading for Vermillion City then they'll have to pass this way" explained Jessie, especially since the Hidden Village Traps gave them some inspiration.

"They'll fall right into our hands and…" James never finished what he was going to say as he took notice towards something in the bushes and went to investigate the spot so to find out what it was, much to the surprise of his cohorts.

"What is it Jimmy-Boy?" wondered Meowth, confused by what James was doing at this very moment.

"Shhh…. You'll find out when I find it" said James, searching the area for more than a few seconds before eventually discovering a familiar Grass/Poison Pokemon that they attempted to take back at the Hidden Village a while back. "No way…"

The Bellsprout simply danced around happily towards the male Rocket member as he was intrigued by its appearance, including its eyes which he found memorizing. He was curious about where it came from but was considering about capturing it as he thought it could make a good addition to his team and could give the trio another Pokemon to use against the kids getting in their way.

"So, Jimmy-boy, what's the matter?" Meowth snidely asked. "Have you seen some more bottlecaps for your collection or something?"

"Better than that! Will you look at this, Meowth?" the blue-haired youth answered, pointing at the Bellsprout that was getting close to them in curiosity. "I would have always liked to have a Bellsprout… and now it's my chance to get one of them! I'm not letting it go to waste! Koffing, come out!"

In a flash of light, James' floating Poison-type Pokemon appeared. "_I __am __ready, __master!_" he said in a voice that sounded like he had a perpetually sore throat. "_I __will __capture __that __Bellsprout __for __you!_"

"Thanks, Koffing! Let's start things off with a Smokescreen!" James ordered, and Koffing blew some clouds of noxious smoke out of several exhaust tubes all over his rotund body, immersing the Grass / Poison type in a cloud that prevented him from seeing what was going on! In confusion, Bellsprout tried to toss a few Razor Leaves here and there, in the hope of somehow hitting Koffing, but all of his attempts ended up falling short.

"Very good, Koffing! And now… use Tackle!" James ordered. Unhindered by his own smoke, Koffing charged head on at Bellsprout and struck the Grass / Poison type with all of his strength, sending the flower-like Pokemon to the ground in a defeated heap. Smiling, James took out a Pokeball and threw it towards Bellsprout, hitting him and causing him to be drawn inside the sphere, which shifted slightly three times before staying still. "Yay, I got it! I captured a Bellsprout! Isn't this fantastic, Jessie, Meowth? My first very own Bellsprout, and I caught him all by myself!"

"Ugh… can't you rejoice less loudly, James, for crying out loud?" Jessie murmured through grit teeth. "We are kinda trying to lay a trap for the twerps, and it's not going to go well if you spend your time yelling about how you captured a Pokemon! Although I have to say… I am glad you caught one, James, it will come in handy in the future!" Jessie answered, her annoyance at her loud partner soon replaced by an approving nod.

"Hehee… thanks, Jessie, I'm glad you think so!" James answered as he picked up his newly-captured Pokemon. "Okay then… I'll be quiet and wait patiently until the twerps come along. Then, we're going to give them a nice little surprise! Hehehee…"

"That's good to know… and now, what do you have in mind? What kind of trap have you thought up?" Meowth asked in curiosity.

Jessie chuckled arrogantly. "The most ingenious trap ever to have been conceived by the human mind, my dear Meowth…" she said, and then pointed dramatically to a leaf-covered hole they had dug in the middle of the road just a few moments before! "THAT! The twerps are going to fall for it, and we'll be able to take their Pokemon, their Pikachu included!"

"Oh… a hole in the ground…" Meowth muttered sarcastically as a sweat drop came down his head. "Very original. I'm really speechless, you know."

"Quit your complaining Meowth, I'm sure it's going to work" said James, though they needed to be ready quickly as sooner or later the trainers will be coming this way.

Right on cue, Ash and co where heading their direction and the Rocket trio laughed as they hid behind some bushes nearby. "Wait for it…. Wait for it…" whispered Jessie, watching as Pikachu walked onto the trap to their glee only to see he didn't fall through it. "What the… It's too strong, you used too many branches!"

"Me? You're the one who filled it with too much dirt!" hissed James, not being too happy about being accused of this situation. Meowth on the other hand, wasn't going to allow them to get busted and scratched his claws right on their faces.

"Quiet!"

Ash let out a sneeze as he and the others passed through the area where the hole was covered up at which made Anna worried. "I was afraid this would happen, you're starting to catch a cold" she told him, though in a way it did serve him right for going out by himself.

"Thanks a lot…" he said sarcastically, of course he didn't think a little cold can stop him from training for the next Gym Battle. "Besides, it's not like I'm dying or anything… it's just a minor sickness."

"Yeah right, maybe you should get some rest for now and we can train when you're better" suggested Misty, none of the trainers even felt the trap in anyway and that really irritated the Rocket Trio when the four walked by.

"Brilliant… real brilliant…" muttered Meowth, believing this to be another bust like every one of their previous plans.

"I don't get it, it should have worked…" scowled James, trying to make sure that there wasn't anything truly wrong with the trap and was jumping on it much to the dismay of his partners in crime.

"Just what do you think you're doing?" snapped Jessie as she and Meowth joined the purple-haired male where their trap laid, not being pleased by what he's doing right now. "You need to stop that, otherwise it will…" she never finished what she was going to say as the three fell straight down to the bottom of their own hole.

"Huh?" wondered Brock, turning behind him for a moment to see if there was anyone present in the area that they didn't notice.

"What's up?"

"I could have sworn that I heard some voices earlier" he told the younger male, though to be honest, he didn't really think it would be important right now. "Maybe I'm just hearing things; let's not worry about that now."

"If you say so…" Misty gave him a serious expression then decided to focus back on what they were currently doing for the time being. Yet, Brock couldn't help that the voice he heard sounded very familiar to him.

"Smooth move…" groaned Jessie, experiencing some pain on her side as they all laid at the bottom of the hole they were stuck in. "Anymore bright ideas, genius? Cause I would really want to hear what you have next…"

James remained silent as he didn't have a clue on what their next plan should be. However, the trio were unaware that they were being watched by Giovanni's best agent in all of Team Rocket. He watched as Jessie, James and Meowth as they climbed out of the hole they fell in only to fall back in due to a piece of the wall they were climbing comming off.

'_Ugh_,_ those three are complete idiots Taichi_,' replied a Scyther as he too was watching the trio along with his trainer.

"Agreed," replied Taichi. "But unfortunately we can't do anything to them right now."

'_I_'_m assuming that the boss has something in mind for the trio_,' guessed Scyther.

"Well James apparently is from a rich family," began Taichi. "Giovanni did a background check on James and found out that he's from a rich family."

'_Ugh_, _you humans your and need to have possessions_,' huffed Scyther.

A few miles away Damian was walking towards the next gym as he grinned with six Pokéballs on his belt. "Sure glad that I got rid of that weakling Charmander," he said to himself though he was unaware that someone was watching him

"So you got rid of a Pokémon that was too weak," said a girl with a blue dress and emerald green jacket and sandals.

Damian turned saw the girl and her boyfriend along two Pokémon with them, a Pikachu and a Pokémon he didn't know about. "What the, who are you?" he asked the couple. "And what's with weird blue Pokémon?"

'Excuse me young human, but I am not a weird Pokémon,' replied the blue Pokémon.

"A Pokémon that can talk, impossible!" exclaimed Damian.

'It's possible,' replied the blue Pokémon. 'But I'm not speaking to you with my mouth. I'm using my mind, something called telepathy.'

"Never mind that," Damian said as he was losing his patience. "What do you want? Why would even care that got rid of a weakling little Charmander?"

"Because we consider it neglect especially where we're from," answered the boyfriend.

"If you want to battle me then, I accept your challenge," Damian said angrily as he readied a Pokéball.

"Fine then," the girl said as she looked to her boyfriend and the blue Pokémon, "we challenge you and if you lose, we take all of your Pokémon and strip you of all your badges."

"Fine, if you lose then I take your blue Pokémon," countered Damian.

"I doubt it, but we'll accept your challenge," said the boyfriend.

* * *

As the battle began Ash and co was looking for the Charmander that ran away from the Pokémon Center they were staying in.

"I'm afraid we're going to need a long time if we are to find that Charmander at this point…" Anna commented, brushing some hair off her forehead as she and her Clefairy took a small break. "At this point, he could be everywhere… how are we planning to keep track of him?"

"I'll admit, I haven't really thought of that…" Ash admitted, with Pikachu doing a face palm at his recklessness. "But really, I don't like the idea of letting that Charmander wander off on his own. He's still weak from having stayed in the rain too long, and I'm not sure he would be able to defend himself if he ran across some hostile Pokemon, or…"

"Hold on a second, Ash!" Brock said, motioning for him to lower his voice a little "I think I just heard something…"

"What's the matter, Brock?" Misty asked, looking over at the direction Brock was pointing at.

"_I hear something as well…_" Pikachu said, his ears turning in the direction the sound was coming from. "_It sounds like someone is fighting, and it's a pretty intense battle too!_"

"Now this is a little strange… who might have picked this forest as a good place to have a Pokemon battle?" Misty asked in curiosity. "I think we might want to have a look at that, don't you agree?"

"Okay, but let's keep a safe distance from that battle." Brock said. "WE have no idea who's involved, and it might be dangerous."

All the members of the small team nodded and proceeded to follow the sound of battle throughout the forest, following Pikachu as he guided them thanks to his keen hearing. The yellow mouse finally stopped close to a clearing, as a sound of churning water echoed through the forest, along with the sound of cursing and something being violently slammed against the ground. Ash winced and took a risk, taking a peek from a nearby bush and looking into the clearing…

What he saw left him quite surprised: Damien was lying right there, looking like he had just seen a ghost, with several empty Pokeballs laying in a pile close to him. On the other side of the clearing, there seemed to be nothing at all, which left the young trainer and his friends wondering what the heck had just happened. Whatever it was, it must certainly have been extremely powerful to be able to wipe out Damien and his team so easily.

"Oh, snap…" Ash muttered to himself, gritting his teeth. "That Pokemon… whatever it is… has *that* much power?"

"It… it can't be true…" Damien mouthed in disbelief. "How… how could I possibly lose like that? They… they must have cheated! There is no other way they could have won against me!"

"Hey, what's going on here?" Anna asked, getting to the clearing as well. There was something that left her very suspicious about the whole business… and she, too, was very surprised to see just how badly Damien had been defeated. "Oh, damn… I can't believe it, that guy was just destroyed like that? Who could have done something like that?"

"_I have no idea… but I certainly don't feel sorry for him_." Pikachu answered, shaking his head. He had to admit, he was a little disappointed that he didn't get to shock Damien silly, but seeing him lying there like a sack of bricks was incredibly satisfying. Ash, wondering what just went on, walked into the clearing and reached the barely conscious trainer, then he shook him a little, hoping to get a reaction out of him.

"Hey! Hey, snap out of it!" Ash exclaimed as Damien started coming to. The older Pokemon trainer blinked in fear and shook his head, looking like he has just seen a ghost… "Damien! What went on here?"

"They… they got me… they got my badges, and my Pokemon…" Damien stammered in fear. "They were too much… I can't… I couldn't…"

Anna got closer as well. "What? What are you talking about, you lowlife?" she shouted at the older trainer. "Who got your badges and your Pokemon? What do you mean, they were too much?"

"They… They were…" Damien murmured in horror, but he could not get much further than this before he fainted from the fear. Brock and Misty walked out of their hideout as well, and got closer, wondering who could have done such a thing.

"On one hand, I'm kinda shocked that there is someone who can actually do that to a trainer…" Misty commented, taking a good look at the pile of empty Pokeballs lying by Damien's side. "On the other, well… I don't think his Pokemon are going to miss him all that much. Just consider that none of them stayed at his side…"

Brock nodded and was about to say something as well, when the sound of something hidden in the brushes caught his attention, and the dark-skinned young man turned in that direction as a Pokemon popped out from behind the leaves. The former Pewter City Gym Leader was quite surprised to see that it was the very same Charmander that they had rescued. He seemed to be looking for his trainer still… and as soon as he saw Damien and Ash's team there, with Damien lying unconscious on the ground, he widened his eyes in surprise. "Oh… Charmander, is that you? We have been looking for you!"

"Charmander! We were worried about you, you had disappeared without a trace…" Ash told the Fire-type.

"_Yeah… are you sure you are up to going out? I'm not sure you're completely healed…_" Clefairy went on.

Charmander shook his head sympathetically. "_I'm fine, really… I needed to get out and see where Damien was… and by the way, how is it that Damien is lying right there, while you're holding him by the shirt?_"

Ash looked at the unconscious trainer he was still holding by the shirt and placed him on the ground, taking care not to hurt him. "Ah… I'm… I'm sorry, Charmander! When we got here… well… he was already lying on the ground like that! He seems to have been attacked by someone… I don't know who, though."

"_He's telling the truth._" Pikachu told Charmander. "_Damien was already out like a light when we got here! We didn't do anything to him…_"

Charmander frowned a little… but then, he thought that Ash and his friends did not seem to be people who would lie to him like that, and nodded to the team. "_Well… I guess I can trust you, after all. You did help me when I was in trouble, and I have no reason not to believe you._" The fire lizard said, before approaching his trainer, who groaned and started to stir.

"Uuuugh… damn… what is going on here?" Damien murmured. He finally opened his eyes and looked to his right to see Charmander, which left him surprised for a few seconds… but then, he smirked nastily and tried to deceive the Fire-type into getting back in his team. After all, Damien thought, a weak Pokemon was still better than nothing. "Heh, I'm glad to see you here, Charmander! I 've been looking all over for you, where have you been?"

Charmander smiled as he got closer to his trainer… but he stopped when Anna stepped forward and pointed her finger at Damien. "Liar! You were going to abandon him and leave him to die in the rain! I heard you and your bunch of friends talking!" she exclaimed angrily. "Now, you're trying to play innocent because it's more convenient to you? You ought to be ashamed!"

Charmander widened his eyes and glared at Damien, not daring to believe what he had just heard. "_What? What's the meaning of this…? Damien… was actually going to abandon me?_" he asked.

"_Yes, he was! I heard him with my own ears!_" Pikachu squeaked. "_And so did Ash, Misty, Brock, Anna and Clefairy! We all heard what Damien said!_"

"Damn you…" Damien said angrily, climbing to his feet. He ran at Anna, fully intending to punch her in the face. "You stay out of this, you stupid kids! I will not let you interfere…"

Ash was beginning to move forward and defend his sister from the older boy, but much to his surprise, he saw Anna dodge Damien's fist and quickly kick him in the groin, right between the legs! Damien screamed like a little girl and fell to his knees, holding the spot Anna had hit, while the girl stepped backwards with a satisfied smile. "Hehehee… now that's what I call satisfying!" she commented.

"Wow! Remind me never to get on your bad side, Anna!" Brock commented in awe.

Ash found the blue-haired bastard getting his just deserts and mentally comments that it serves him right for abandoning Charmander like that, speaking of Chamander, he turned his attention towards the Fire-Type Pokemon and wondered what they are going to do about it now. "Go ahead Ash…" he heard Brock speak up, encouraging the younger male to take Charmander in. "I'm sure Charmander will be a great Pokemon."

"What? Brock, I…"

"He's right Ash" added Misty, knowing that it's for the best if the raven-haired Ketchum becomes Charmander's new trainer. "After all, you were the one who rescued him during that storm and don't worry; I have a feeling he hasn't forgotten that am I right?"

Remaining silent, the Fire-Type nodded while remembering having heard from Nurse Joy and Chansey that Ash had risked his life save him from dying the night before and he was surprised that the trainer who tried to capture him before had done so just for him. This response was all Ash needed to make his final decision. "Alright, welcome to the group Charmander!" he said to the newest member of his team as he threw a Pokeball and watched as the Pokemon went inside it without fighting back.

"Looks like you got a Pokemon and a new friend." smiled the red-haired trainer, glad to see that Charmander has decided to go with them on their journey and they knew Ash would raise him to be a great Pokemon.

* * *

In the meantime, two vines wrapped themselves around a nearby tree as James' new Bellsprout managed to get himself and the trio out of the hole they had been stuck in though it was now the middle of the night. "See, I told you I'd get us out of that mess" explained the purple-haired Rocket member. "Now we just need to come up with a Plan B."

"Plan B?!" exclaimed Jessie out of anger, grabbing James by the neck and looking like she was going to strangle him. "Right now, the only thing I want to do for now is get some sleep! We've been in that damned hole for hours and I'm tired!"

"You morons aren't going anywhere…" came a voice not too far from there and they cringed a bit when they turned to see who had said that. Unfortunately, when they looked behind then, there waiting was none other than Taichi himself and with him were Scyther and Pinsir, looking ready to deliver some pain.

The trio couldn't say a word as the blood they had were drained from their faces at the sight of one of Team Rocket's high-ranking members and his cold expression. The only thing they barely managed to say was the word 'Oh…. Shit!'

A/Ns: Well this is it, the newest chapter of Rise of Heroes finished and I'll be going on a hiatus until mid-January starting now. But don't worry; you haven't seen the last of this story as more will come very soon.


	13. Here Comes The Squirtle Squad

Disclaimer: See chapter 1, I'm back and with a vengeance as well. Hope you enjoyed this little break cause I sure as hell did so now it's time to get on with the show as they say.

Pokémon: Rise of Heroes

Here Comes The Squirtle Squad

By EmperorDraco7 and co-written by Lily Nadesico and NEBSparky86

It had been an eventful day for Ash, Anna and their friends: they had managed to save a Charmander that had been abandoned by his trainer, and the Fire-type Pokémon had joined Ash's team of his own accord. Moreover, training was going well overall, and both Ketchum siblings were confident that the upcoming Gym Battle at Vermillion City was going to be a roaming success. Now, with a confident stride, Ash, Pikachu, Anna and Clefairy had taken the lead in the team, and were walking along a country road, towards their next goal – the Vermillion City gates.

However, upon reaching the gates, they had encountered a snag. Out of the blue, they had received news that the way to Vermillion City, which went through the metropolis of Saffron City, was blocked until further notice, and that nobody could enter or exit the city without a special permission, which had only been issued to the police and to Officer Jenny. The gate keeper had not really been talkative about the motive for this, but it seemed to have something to do with a request issued by the chairman of Silph Co., the most important manufacturers of Pokémon technology in the continent of Kanto.

"I can't believe this… why would the guy in charge of Silph Co. want to stop people from entering his own city?" Ash grumbled. "I mean, it's not like we even want to stay longer than we need to get to Vermillion City. I know there's a Gym in Saffron City too, but somehow, I don't think we're good enough to take it on, right now."

"_Wow, Ash actually admitting that he doesn't think he can take a Gym on!_" Pikachu sarcastically whispered to Clefairy. "_This must be a new one!_"

"_C'mon, Pikachu, no need to be mean…_" the pink fairy Pokémon answered gently.

"I'm sorry, kids. I'm not the one who calls the shots here." The gate keeper answered with a shrug. "The orders are clear… but if you really need to get to Vermillion City, there's still the Underground Tunnel you could take. It's a fast and, above all, safe way to get to the other side of Saffron City."

"I guess there's no helping it, then." Brock answered with a sigh, taking a good look at his map. "Alright, guys, we'll be making a detour to the Underground Tunnel and see if we can reach Vermillion City from there."

"I just hope we get there on time, before the S.S. Anne sets sail…" Anna sighed. "Okay then, guess we don't have much of a choice. Let's go to the Underground Tunnel."

With that said, the team turned away and, after bidding farewell to the gate keeper, were soon on their way towards the Underground Tunnel, walking along another road very similar to the previous one. Luckily, this slight detour had not dampened Ash's spirits in the least, and both he and Pikachu were eager to prove their strength to the Gym Leader of Vermillion City.

"That slight delay won't be a problem for us, right, Pikachu?" he asked his Electric-type starter. "I can't wait to get there and show the Gym Leader a thing or two! And hopefully, we can beat that Paul jerk to the punch this time!"

"_You said it, Ash! I'm looking forward to it…_" Pikachu started to say…

"Aaaaaaargh!"

…before the ground gave way from below thm, and the team fell into a well-hidden, but fortunately not too deep, hole, landing in a dogpile at the bottom!

"Owwww… whose great idea was it to dig a hole right in the middle of the road?" Misty asked, rubbing her sore back. "I'm sure it's those two Team Rocket buffoons again! I'm gonna give them a piece of my mind when I see them!"

"_Look, there's somebody up there!_" Clefairy stated, pointing to the border of the hole… and seeing, much to her surprise, a Squirtle wearing pointed sunglasses, who was looking at them in curiosity and surprise.

"Huh? Is that a Squirtle?" wondered Ash in disbelief, the Squirtle in question wasn't alone as four more Squirtles began to look down on them as well, each one wearing rounded sunglasses."I guess I'll take that as a yes." It was then the five Squirtles found it amusing that the group fell into their hole then moved away, with an annoyed look on his face, Ash climbed out of the hole. "You think that's funny? Dangerous practical jokes are nothing to laugh about!"

The Squirtles found themselves laughing again at this, of course... the raven-haired trainer had a good feeling that he could be able to catch one of them and he currently has two Pokémon that have a Type Advantage over them. "Alright, if that's the way you want it... Pikachu, hit one for them with Thundershock" he ordered his Electric Mouse, causing the Squirtles to stop laughing when Pikachu let out an electric charge that came towards the leader only for one for the other Squirtles to take the hit instead, knocking it out.

'_You're going to pay for this_!' snapped the Squirtle leader, glaring at Pikachu and the two Pokémon were waiting to see who will make a move first like they were in some kind of western shootout but it wasn't to be when they heard a police siren from out of nowhere. '_We'll settle this some other time, boys let's get out of here_!'

The others complied to their leader, quickly picking up their incapacitated ally and fled the scene before Ash and co could even try to stop them. "Okay, that was weird..." said the younger male, a bit confused by what happened.

Soon a motorbike arrived at the scene and riding it was none other than Officer Jenny herself, though she saw that she was too late to help out. "Are you guys alright? Is anyone hurt?" she asked the trainers, wanting to see if there wasn't any serious injuries to the group.

"Officer Jenny!" Ash was more than glad to see the officer, despite the strange look that came on her face when he recognized her.

"Huh? Have we met before?"

Ash remained silent for a moment as he found it a bit strange that they would see Officer Jenny at Cerulean City and most recently near the gates to Saffron City though how she doesn't recognize them is hard to believe unless this was a different Jenny all together. "We met someone who looks like you back at Cerulean City and we saw you earlier when we tried to enter Saffron City a while back."

"Oh... you mean one of the other Jennies" she said, understanding what he was talking about since it have been a bit weird for them to know her despite having just met. "She's one of my relatives, we all look identical and we are police officers after all."

"You're kidding!" exclaimed Anna in surprise, to which Jenny shook her head to confirm that she was quite serious though gave them a bright smile never the less. "Wow..."

"Talk about a family resemblance" said Ash, a bit amazed by this revelation.

Misty nodded and said. "At least they remember all their names." How it was then that they saw Brock getting close to the officer with love-struck eyes very similar to when they met Melanie back at the hidden Pokémon village, causing the red-haired girl to groan in annoyance. "Great, here we go again..."

"Oh, my fair Jenny…" Brock said to the surprised blue-haired officer, who blinked as he gently took her hand. "I can say, from the deepest of my heart, that you are the most beautiful Jenny I have ever had the good fortune of laying my eyes upon. Would you do me the honor of going on a date with you?"

"Sorry, pal… I'm not the kind of girl who flirts back on duty." Officer Jenny answered, to which Brock sighed and looked down.

For her part, Anna shook her head. "Seriously… how does he tell them apart?"

_'I'd rather not ask…_" her Clefairy answered. "_But more to the point, there is something we would like to ask to Officer Jenny, right?'_

"Yes, Clefairy is right…" Ash answered. "Officer Jenny… before you came to help us, we were attacked by a bunch of Squirtles who seemed to be the ones responsible for digging that hole. Do you happen to know anything more about them?"

Jenny nodded. "Of course I do. Those guys are the Squirtle Squad… they're a group of Squirtles who were abandoned by their trainers, and now they just hang around here, running wild and playing pranks on trainers that pass by here." She explained. "To be fair, they've never really hurt anybody, but several people have complained about them and asked that we do something to remove them."

"I understand…" Misty answered. "But I guess you haven't had much success until now, have you?"

"As you can plainly see… no, we didn't. Those little guys are quite cunning, and they never let us catch them off guard." Officer Jenny answered. "Anyway, I would just advise you to get away from this place as soon as you can, if you don't want to be targeted again."

"Okay…" Ash answered with a sigh. However, he wasn't the kind of person to just walk away as if nothing had happened, and he was already thinking of how to solve the problem himself. "Well then… thank you for your help, Officer Jenny! We'll be on our way shortly."

"Plus, we kinda need a place to train our Pokémon, and we won't be able to do that if we have these Squirtles bothering us." Anna added. Pikachu and Clefairy, however, knew better, and realized that their trainers were going to do something about the Squirtle Squad…

_'Hey, Clefairy… is it just me, or Ash and Anna are not going to just walk away?'_ Pikachu whispered to the pink fairy, who nodded in assent.

_'Yeah… they aren't the kind of people who will just let sleeping Houndooms lie._" Clefairy answered. Then, she smiled and winked to Pikachu. "_Well, I don't think that's a bad thing at all. I think it will be quite a challenge to teach those naughty Squirtles a lesson. And maybe i twill be good training as well! We need to be in good shape if we are to be prepared for Vermillion City's Gym… I have a feeling it will be an harder challenge than before…' _

'_Not to mention I'm sure that Ash will try to catch one of the Squirtles too,_' added Pikachu.

* * *

In another part of the woods the Squirtle Squad were about to enter their hideout when a couple of humans and unfamiliar Pokémon blocked their path.

'_Hey, get out of our way before some of us forget our manners,_' threatened one of the Squirtles.

The lead Squirtle saw how beautiful the human girl looked. He then smirked as he said to his group, '_Fellas, fellas, where are our manners? We have guests. We should be a little more polite._'

'A little more polite?' asked the blue Pokémon accompanying the girl through telepathy.

The Squirtles looked at the blue Pokémon accompanying the girl and her boyfriend and another medium-sized Pokémon. '_I'm sorry but I wasn't talking to you... Whatever kind of Pokémon you are,_' retorted the leader of the Squirtles.

"I just wanna know why you're still causing trouble Squirtle," inquired the girl.

'_What? Is there anything wrong with wanting to fun to have some fun around here?_' asked the Squirtle leader. '_Besides, things around here are boring; we're just trying to make things more lively around here._'

"So because I left you charge here means that you can just run amok and make the life of trainers a living nightmare?" the girl asked the lead Squirtle.

'_Boss, what are you doing?_' asked the second in command Squirtle. '_Are you gonna let this human girl get after you for all the fun we're having here?_'

"I'd keep quiet if I were you," the girl said to her former Squirtle's second-in-command.

"We should get going," suggested the girl's boyfriend. "You said you thought we were being followed by one of those Team Rocket admins."

The girl gave a slight nod to her boyfriend and then looked to the Squirtles in front of her before her Sinnoh Ice/Ghost and Hoenn Psychic Pokémon. "Alright Squirtle, take of yourself and I'm sure that we'll see each other again," she said before getting on the back of her blue Water-type Pokémon thought to be from the Johto region.

The Squirtle Squad leader gave a slight nod and then watched his former trainer and her boyfriend ride away on their Pokémon.

'_Boss, you do realize she knows where our hideout is, right?_' asked a lower Squirtle.

'_She's cool guys,_' answered the leader Squirtle. '_She took me in and made the Squirtle I am today._'

The other Squirtles were hesitant at first but gave a slight nod to their leader. If the boss thought the human girl who talked to their boss was alright, then maybe they should consider her cool as well.

* * *

While this was happening, Taichi was glaring at the Team Rocket trio as they were forced to do jumping-jacks non stop since their leader was starting to grow tired of their constant failures in missions. "This is getting ridiculous, why would he make us constantly exercise without a single break?" asked Meowth in disbelief at this situation.

"You know I can hear a word you morons are saying" came Taichi's voice as he was meditating, though he would know if the trio would start slacking off again. "As of right now, I will be in charge of making sure you succeed in missions, failure is no longer an option. Any hesitation or disloyalty will be dealt with swiftly."

"I was afraid that something like this would happen" frowned James, feeling his arms and legs getting tired with his body crying out for some rest. "I don't see how things can get any worse for us."

"Funny that you mentioned that, I'm afraid you won't be paid for any operation unless you successfully complete the current one that you have been assigned."

"You can't be serious!" exclaimed Jessie out of anger for what she was hearing, however she felt the Team Rocket Admin's gloved hand grabbing her by her throat and unable to breathe when he forced her to look into his eyes.

"Does it look like I'm joking?" he asked with an icy tone to his voice, squeezing his hand as a means to show what would happen should they not follow his commands. "To think our great leader would even hire such fuck ups like you into Team Rocket, I on the other hand won't have any remorse disposing of you three permanently, do you understand?"

Jessie, James and Meowth could only nod without saying a simple word as their superior let go of the young woman, though not before backslapping her across the face afterwards. "Jessie!" Meowth and James went by her side to make sure she was alright. Realizing that there would indeed be hell to pay now that Taichi is running things.

"Now, enough slacking off!" he ordered, wanting them back to exercising till they drop as he glanced at his two Bug-Type Pokémon; Pinsir and Scyther, gesturing to deliver some pain should they fail in the next mission. If his calculations are correct, the four trainers should be heading for Vermillion City so he will want to see if the trio would crush them this time with his training.

* * *

In the meantime, Ash and his friends were taking some time to rest a little and train their Pokémon for the upcoming battle with the Vermilion City Gym Leader… and while Misty and Brock were respectively training her Magikarp and his Zubat, Ash and Anna were having a mock battle between each other – the boy had sent out his Pikachu and his newly caught Charmander, while Anna had decided to train her Clefairy and her Sandshrew. Now, the four Pokémon were facing off against each other, giving it their all.

"Okay, Pikachu… use Quick Attack, and then Mega Kick!" Ash exclaimed. "Charmander, let's see what your moves are… can you do an Ember attack?"

"_Sure thing!_" the Fire-type lizard answered happily, before shooting out a small stream of flames and almost hitting Clefairy with them. The fairy Pokémon yelped in surprise and stepped backwards for a short distance, before getting back in a fighting stance and letting out a relieved sigh.

"_Wow, that was close! Hey, take care with those flames, Charmander, someone might have gotten hurt!_" Clefairy exclaimed.

Charmander chuckled nervously. "_Hehehee… sorry about that, Clefairy, but if we need to train ourselves seriously, we must fight seriously too, even between ourselves._" He answered. "_After all, we will have to face each other one day… both Ash and Anna are aiming to become Champions of Kanto, and they will need to compete with each other in order to achieve that. There is simply no place for two Champions, is there?_"

"_I guess you're right._" Sandshrew answered, scratching his head with one of his short claws. "_Well then… if that is the case, we can fight seriously too! Let's go, Anna!_"

The girl smiled confidently. "Sure thing, Sandshrew!" she answered, before deciding it would be a good time to test out the new move. "Okay… then, use Dig and show Ash that we mean business too!"

"_Right away!_" the armadillo-like Pokémon answered, before literally diving into the ground and disappearing under it, the slight movement of the earth being the only clue of his presence. Pikachu and Charmander kept their eyes on the small moving mound of earth that quickly sneaked its way towards them… but they were caught off guard by its speed, and when Sandshrew burst out of the ground in front of them, they were startled and jumped backwards, landing on their rear ends in a less than elegant way!

"_Wow, I really didn't expect that… this could have been really dangerous if you were serious about that!_" Pikachu exclaimed. "_Boy, Anna, you sure put that Dig TM to good use, didn't you?_"

"Of course I did!" Anna answered with a wink. "After all, Ground-type attacks like Dig are pretty much the only thing Electric-type Pokémon are weak against, and if they are used by a Pokémon of the same type, they become even more powerful! Bet you didn't know this, huh, little brother?"

Ash sweatdropped. "Huh? What do you mean, little brother? We're twins, you know! And… of course I knew that, what do you think? I… I just thought it was a given, so I didn't give it too much thought! Yeah, that's it!"

"_Let me guess… he didn't know._" Charmander told Pikachu.

The electric mouse nodded. "_Wouldn't surprise me… that's Ash for you._"

* * *

Back with the Team Rocket trio, Taichi had taken leave to report on the status of what is going on with their leader and the three were really tired from all that exercise to boot which they really needed to rest for a while. "Man, am I pooped…" muttered Meowth in exhaustion, wanting to do nothing but sleep for the rest of the day. "I can't believe he put us all through this."

"Tell me about it Meowth…" added James, just as tired as his partner in crime and Jessie could only groan to agree with the two male Rocket members. "All I know is this could be worse, we could have been killed on sight for the events that had happened recently."

"Don't remind us… all I know is, I want to have a day of sleep after this is over…" said Jessie, hearing something nearby that made her sit up and catching the attention of her cohorts. "What was that?"

"What was what Jess?" asked James, a bit curious about what she heard as they noticed some bushes moving nearby and despite their exhaustion from the training that Taichi had given them, they managed to get onto their feet as they headed towards the moving bushes. "What the…"

Upon searching the area, they discovered that a familiar group of sunglasses wearing Squirtles gathered near them. "So, you guys have a problem?" asked Jessie with a smirk, seeing the Squirtle Squad leader laughing at this as he thought it was pretty amusing. "What's so funny?"

_You guys are a real riot but enough of this, you better not get in our way or else there will be trouble._

"Is that a threat? We're Team Rocket, we are the ones who should be threatening you…" grinned Jessie, not into idle chat herself despite what the leader of the Squirtle Squad said and decided to take out one of her Pokéballs. "Now let's show them how dangerous we are James."

"Alright then, I'm game!" James added, taking out one of his own Pokéballs as he wanted to try out his new Bellsprout against the Water-Type Pokémon before then. However as they took one step, part of the ground around them crumbled, revealing a large hole similar to the one that Ash and co had fallen into previously.

* * *

"Okay guys let's head to the General Store back in town," suggested Ash.

The others recalled their Pokémon for a rest as they agreed with Ash to go back into town and the General Store. They journeyed back into town and the general store. As the group entered the general store something caught Anna's attention. An aqua blue Pokémon with white diamond shaped spots, white ribbon-like tails, a flowing purple mane and crest on it's forehead. Anna's eyes widened at the sight of the Pokémon sitting next to a girl with long brown hair in a ponytail tied with two green ribbons at different points of her hair and wore an aqua blue dress with an emerald green jacket.

"Hey there Caroline," the girl said to the mother on the video screen. "Is something wrong Caroline?"

"_It's horrible Relena,_" the mother answered the girl. "_It's May. My little girl's been kidnapped. She was mistaken for a model that looks like May._"

"For the love of Arceus, not May," the girl named Relena said under her breath.

'Do you know who it was who kidnapped your daughter?' asked the blue Pokémon.

Anna's eyes went even wider when she heard the blue Pokémon speaking telepathically.

"_Yes, we know who they are Aurora,_" answered Caroline, the mother on the video phone, as she produced a card with appeared to be imprints of two sets of lips that Relena recognized and a rose that was left. "_The police said they call themselves Annie and Oakley. That they're thieves wanted in Johto and Kanto for numerous thefts of precious artifacts and occasional kidnapping jobs._"

"Don't worry Caroline, we'll look for May and make sure she gets home," Relena assured the worried mother back in the Hoenn region. "But she might wanna hang out with me."

"_That's alright,_" assured Caroline. "_I just want to know that my daughter is safe. She can travel you if she wants to go with you._"

"Alright, thank you Caroline," said Relena.

"_You're welcome_," said Caroline before looking to the blue Pokémon she called Aurora. "_Make sure you take care of your daughter._"

'I will do that Caroline, thank you,' the Pokémon called Aurora said to Caroline.

Anna had heard enough as she passed out getting the girl and her Pokémon's attention after hanging up. The girl, Relena, and her blue Pokémon, Aurora, picked up Anna and took her out of the general store when Ash and the others were still browsing and didn't notice Anna was gone. Relena set Anna down at the base of a tree in the town square. A few minutes passed and Anna woke up to see Relena sitting on Aurora's back enjoying the light breeze.

"Oh my gosh, I've gotta be dreaming," Anna said as she marveled at Aurora.

'You're not dreaming child,' Aurora said to Anna much to her surprise.

"So you're awake," Relena said to Anna as she woke up. "My name is, as you heard, Relena.

Relena then gestured to her blue Pokémon and continued, "This Pokémon is known as..."

"Uh Suicune, I think," interrupted Anna.

"Yes, this is Suicune," replied Relena as she gave a slight nod. "His name is Aurora and he's my father."

Anna then burst into laughter thinking that Relena was joking.

"That's a good joke," Anna said as she laughed at Relena's last statement.

'It's not a joke,' Aurora said to Anna. 'Her human father is dead and I adopted her as my own daughter.'

Anna stopped and it sunk in for her. But as it sunk in Anna asked, "What happened to your human father?"

"Died in a mountain," Relena answered in an icy tone.

"That sounds terrible," Anna said softly.

"Not really," Relena said with venom in her voice. "He was a deadbeat father who expected my mother to be okay with him sleeping with his mistress and give him as many children as possible."

"Okay, now that's really despicable," said Anna.

"We need help looking for someone," Relena said to Anna as a boy and his big orange quadruped Pokémon with a yellow cloud-like cape appeared in the town. "A friend of mine from the Hoenn region was kidnapped and mistaken for a popular model from that region."

"I'll need to ask my brother and the rest of the group," Anna said as she was about ready to head back into the general store.

"Hold on a second," Relena said to Anna as she had a Pokéball in her hand. "Since we've met each other, I think you should have the Pokémon in this Pokéball."

Relena then tossed the Pokéball to Anna who caught it in her hands. Anna was confused as to why a stranger would give her a Pokéball even though she hardly knew Anna. Anna then threw the Pokéball up and released a Pokémon that Anna thought she saw at Bill's home at the Cerulean Cape.

"Is this..." Anna began to ask Relena.

"Yes," answered Relena. "That Pokémon is called Froslass. It's an Ice/Ghost Pokémon normally from the Sinnoh region. But this one is a shiny Pokémon."

Anna's eyes widened and she gave a big smile at the new Pokémon she received from Relena.

"Oh thank you for new the Pokémon," Anna said to Relena. "I'll take good care of him, I mean her."

'_Hello there new person_,' the shiny Froslass said to Anna, '_I hope that you and I will become good friends._'

Anna's only response was to hug her new Pokémon with great joy. The shiny Froslass returned the hug with one of her own. Anna then recalled the Froslass in the blue and yellow Pokéball which caught Anna's interest.

"This is a different kind of Pokéball," Anna said to Relena. "What is it called?"

"It's called a Quick Ball," answered Relena. "It allows you a chance to catch a Pokémon without having to battle it."

Anna then went back to the general store where her brother and the others were still browsing around for supplies.

'_Anna, where have you been?_' asked Pikachu. '_Ash was wanting to know what you wanted from here._'

Anna put the Quick Ball on her belt with the other Pokéballs of her other Pokémon and went to Ash with her requests. As Anna got what she wanted, Ash noticed the Quick Ball on her belt and approached her.

"Hey where did you get that different colored Pokéball?" Ash asked Anna.

"Someone gave it to me and it has a Pokémon in it," answered Anna. "It's a Pokémon that's similar to the Pokémon I saw at Bill's house."

"Who gave it to you?" asked Ash.

Instead of answering Ash, Anna lead Ash outside the general store and took him to Relena.

"Welcome back," Relena said to Anna as she was grabbing food to give Aurora. "I see you brought someone with you.

"You left before I could ask you for a favor," continued Relena. "I'm not gonna let you just have that Froslass without doing a favor for me."

Anna had a dumbstruck look on her face and a sweatdrop on her forehead.

"Huh?" asked a confused Ash. "What's going on here?"

'_What's a Froslass?_' asked Pikachu as he was confused as well. Clefairy didn't know what to say as she was clueless too.

Relena smiled as she released her own Froslass Pokémon from her Heal Ball.

"This is a Froslass," Relena said to Ash, Pikachu and Clefairy as the Snow Land Pokémon introduced herself.

'_Hello, my name is Kagura,_' the special shiny Froslass to the two humans and two Kanto Pokémon. '_I am a Froslass. It's nice to meet you all._'

'_Nice to meet you too,_' Pikachu said to Kagura. '_Always nice to meet new Pokémon._'

"Now that introductions are done, I need your help," Relena said to Anna. "Will you help me with that favor?"

"Yes, of course," answered Anna.

"Count me in too," added Ash. "Everyone else can help you too. But we need to know who you are."

"My name is Relena," answered Relena before gesturing to the boy with his orange quadruped Pokémon. "That's my boyfriend Richie and his Pokémon, Thor."

Ash then whipped out his Pokédex and aimed it at the tinted orange Pokémon and found the entry he was looking for.

'Raikou, the Thunder Pokémon,' chirped Dexter. 'It is said that this Pokémon fell from sky and can fire thunderbolts from the rain cloud on it's back.'

Ash then pointed his Pokédex at Aurora to learn what Pokémon he was.

'Suicune, the Aurora Pokémon,' Dexter chirped again. 'Legends say that this Pokémon controls the Northern Winds and can purify fouled waters as well as searches for the purest reservoir of water.'

"Those are some real powerful Pokémon," Ash commented at the sight of Aurora and Thor.

'You can marvel at us later young man,' Aurora said to Ash much to his surprise. 'Listen to Relena's request.'

"A friend of mine from the Hoenn region was mistaken for a famous model and kidnapped," explained Relena. "The kidnappers are a pair of contract thieves named Annie and Oakley. They primarily work for Team Rocket but occasionally moonlight for rich and corporate clientele."

* * *

In a building closer to the edge of town, the said employees of Team Rocket were enjoying time in the bathroom as they were busy fixing their hair and makeup. In the next room, their hostage, the daughter of the Petalberg City gym leader was firmly tied up at her wrists and ankles. The girl's female Fire-type starer of the Hoenn region was also tied up and had it's beak tied clamped shut after a failed attempt to free his trainer from her bindings. The girl had on a red blouse, skin tight shorts white gloves with dark blue tips, white and yellow tennis shoes, a red bandana with a white Pokéball on it and a yellow fanny pack.

'Why do they think I'm Melissa Tsuboi?' wondered the girl. 'I told them that my name was May Maple. I hate that I look like that model.'

"So what do you think we should ask for the model?" asked the blonde haired woman in her mid 20's named Annie.

"Probably about a couple million," answered the lavender haired woman, also in her mid 20's, named Oakley.

"Yeah, but she keeps insisting that's not the model Melissa," said Annie. "What do we do if she's not the real deal?"

"I think she said that she's the daughter of a gym leader," answered Oakley. "If it turns out that she's not the model, then we'll just hold her for ransom anyway and make the gym leader of Petalberg City pay us a hefty sum of money. Holding relatives of gym leaders for ransom could make us a good amount of money."

"We could retire from Team Rocket too," added Annie. "With all the money we have from all our jobs we've pulled moonlighting, we could live as queens."

Oakley gave a slight grin as she gave her partner and childhood friend a nod of agreement. As they were discussing their plans, they were unaware that their hostage was busy wriggling out of her restraints and managed to get her arms free after 20 minutes. After freeing herself from the ropes, the girl, May, then silently crept towards her Fire-type starter Pokémon, Torchic, and grabbed her before heading to the window. As May got to the window the floorboards under creaked and alerted Annie and Oakley that she was getting away. As Annie and Oakley were scrambling to get to May, May had already opened the window and leapt out of it with her Torchic in her Pokéball. May was lucky that there was an awning; otherwise May would have broken some bones. She then rolled off the awning and fell to the ground drawing some attention from the townspeople. May then tried running towards the town's exit or at least to an Officer Jenny.

'Where's an Officer Jenny when you need one for help?' wondered May as she ran somewhere, anywhere to get away from Annie and Oakley.

May then ran into Ash, as she wasn't looking at where she was going and crashed into him as he was exiting the Pokémon Center. They both fell to the ground and both of them rubbed their heads as crashing into each other was a bit painful.

"Hey what's the big idea crashing into... me?" Ash asked May before being transfixed by May's sparkling, shimmering sapphire blue eyes.

Before Ash could get an answer, Annie and Oakley had managed to catch up to May and were about to grab her by her shirt collar when May got behind Ash and put her arms around him and then dropped a bombshell on her kidnappers.

"I'm sorry to disappoint you, but this my boyfriend," May informed Annie and Oakley.

"Boyfriend?" asked Annie and Oakley dumbstruck as they looked at Ash. "That loser is your boyfriend?"

"We've been in a long distance relationship and agreed to meet here," lied May as she was hoping that her kidnappers would buy her lie before giving Ash a peck kiss on his left cheek. "Isn't that right, handsome?" May gave Ash a seductive wink as a way to get him to follow her lead.

"Uh... yeah sure thing," Ash agreed nervously with May.

"Tck, whatever," snorted Oakley as she and her partner and childhood friend bought May's lie. "Enjoy dating the loser. He's gonna be a let down for you."

"Not to mention, the model we were supposed to kidnap didn't have a boyfriend and showed no interest in dating at all," added Annie. "Guess we owe an apology... for now."

"You're not gonna take me back to Hoenn?!" demanded May.

"Nope," answered Oakley with an evil grin. "Besides, your boyfriend is supposed to get you home back to Hoenn, not us."

"Ta ta," said Annie as she and Oakley gave a slight wave and disappeared into the forest.

May then breathed a sigh of relief after Annie and Oakley left and turned to Ash and hugged him.

"Thanks for your help," May said to Ash. "My name's May Maple. Sorry I got you involved with dealing with those two ladies."

"It's... uh... cool," replied Ash as he was blushing. "Glad I could... be of some... help."

May saw that Ash was blushing after she hugged him. She giggled as she asked, "What's your name, cutie?"

Ash became even more red when May called him a cutie.

"It's... uh... um..." stammered Ash. "A-Ash. Ash Ketchum."

"Hey Ash, we're gonna go look for... that girl," Anna began to say before seeing May. "But I see you already found her. Nice work Ashy boy."

Relena saw her best friend and ran towards her.

"May!" exclaimed Relena as she ran to her friend.

May turned and saw her best friend of three years ran towards Relena and hugged her.

"What are you doing here?" asked May. "I thought you were in Johto."

"Nope," Relena replied as she returned the hug, "Richie and I have been here in Kanto for a year and three months now."

"Huh? A year and three months?" asked a surprised Anna as she overheard Relena saying that she and Richie had been in Kanto for a year and three months.

"Oh yeah," Relena answered with a grin on her face. "My boyfriend and I got our badges already last year."

"Did you two compete in the Pokémon League?" Anna asked Relena.

"Normally we compete as a pair," began Relena, "but this time I wanted to compete by myself. My boyfriend will be competing this year. I'm taking a backseat this year."

Anna then noticed something that she hadn't noticed before. She noticed that Relena had not 6 Pokéballs, but 7 Pokéballs.

"Uh, you know that you can only have up to 6 Pokéballs on your belt," Anna informed Relena.

"Yes, we know that trainers can only carry 6 Pokéballs at a time," said Relena's boyfriend as he approached with his own large Pokémon with tinted orange fur.

Anna looked at Relena's boyfriend and seemed to become smitten with him. He was wearing an aqua green shirt with yellow cuffs and a teal green vest over the shirt, aqua green pants with yellow rectangles running along the seams, blue tennis shoes and a blue hat with a yellow stripe and red dots on both ends of the stripe.

"Hello cutie," Anna said as she was eager to hit on the boy.

"Uh... I already have a girlfriend," the boy said to Anna, "and she's talking to you right now."

Anna then went white as a ghost after learning the boy she was trying to hit on was already taken by Relena.

"Ah, there you are Richie," Relena said to the boy as she kissed him on his left cheek. "I see you brought Thor with you. I thought we agreed that Thor was gonna stay in his Heal Ball when we came into a town."

"What's your name again?" Anna asked as she was quick to recover.

"Richie," answered the boy. "Richie Henderson of Emerald Cove Island."

"Emerald Cove Island?" asked Anna as she had never heard of Emerald Cove Island.

'It's an island from our home region where we're from,' explained Thor as he joined in.

"You're not from Kanto?" asked Anna in surprise.

"Nope," answered Relena. "My name is Relena Kaiou. I'm from Tsunami Island... in the Atlantica Islands."

Anna was at a loss for words as she found out that the couple in front of her was from another region that she had never heard of. It was then May cleared her throat and said, "Is someone gonna help me get home to the Hoenn region? I've got a life and a family that want me to be home."

"Why not stay and travel with us?" asked Ash with confident smile on his face. "We'll just call your parents and ask them if you can stay with us."

May thought about it for a moment as she wanted to travel. She then looked at Ash and had a glimmer in her eyes as she seemed to feel like there might be a connection between her and Ash.

"Alright, I'll travel with you guys," May said thoughtfully with a smile.

As May agreed to join up with Ash and the others, a Pokémon leapt at Relena. This Pokémon was an eel-like Pokémon with claws, a light teal body and a seafoam green underbelly. This Pokémon missed as Aurora picked up Relena and sidestepped the Pokémon as it came close latching on to Relena

'_Darn it, I missed the human girl AGAIN!_' snarled the strange looking eel-like Pokémon.

Relena sighed as she recognized the eel-like Pokémon from the Atlantica Islands and said, "For the love of Arceus, not again."

'_Huh, you know that Pokémon?_' Ash's Pikachu asked as he made his presence known to the people in the group.

Before Relena could answer, Anna pulled out her Pokédex and aimed it at the strange eel-like Pokémon.

'Eelektross, the EleFish Pokémon,' answered Dexette. 'This Pokémon known for latching on to prey and dragging it into the ocean where it delivers an electric shock before eating it's prey. This Pokémon is from the Unova region and must be approached with extreme caution.'

"Sounds like a cool Pokémon to have," Ash said with a grin on his face as he readied to grab a Pokéball with a Pokémon to battle Eelektross.

'_You're not even worth my time little boy,_' the Eelektross informed Ash. '_Leave your Pokémon in their Pokéballs and stay out of my way._'

Ash ignored the warning Eelektross gave him as she saw Ash grabbing a Pokéball.

"Let's go Pidgeotto!" exclaimed Ash as he threw his first Pokémon to try and catch Eelektross. "Let's get that Eelektross.

'_Ready Ash,_' Pidgeotto said as he took a stance.

Eelektross sighed and shook her head at the sight of Pidgeotto and said to the Normal/Flying Pokémon, '_You and your human trainer will regret wasting my time._'

"Ash, I don't think that Eelektross is weak as you might think," Anna said to Ash she tried to stop her brother from making a big mistake.

"How hard can it be to catch?" Ash asked his older sister with a confident smile on his face.

'_I've evaded capture for years, boy,_' Eelektross informed Ash. '_Before your mother even conceived and bore you into this world._'

"You should listen to Natsuko," Relena said to Ash. "I've known that Eelektross since she's been coming after me since Amber Island."

"Pidgeotto, use Quick Attack on that Eelektross," Ash ordered Pidgeotto.

Pidgeotto then quickly charged towards Eelektross hoping to get that lucky shot on Eelektross; but Eelektross wasn't impressed with Pidgeotto's Quick Attack and rolled her eyes. Pidgeotto did connect with a Quick Attack but did not do the damage that Ash had hoped for.

'_I warned you that you were wasting my time, boy,_' Eelektross said to Ash sternly. '_Now I'm gonna make an example of your Flying-type Pokémon and disgrace you._'

Before Ash and Pidgeotto could do anything, the female eel-like Pokémon was now cloaked in electricity and smashed into Pidgeotto hard, knocking Pidgeotto out in one attack.

'_Consider that a warning,_' Eelektross said to Ash. '_Next time it might be your life._'

The Unova Electric-type eel-like Pokémon headed out of the small town without so much as a word. Some people whispered about what happened to Ash as he was disgraced by Eelektross in one move.

* * *

In the meantime, the Squirtle Squad was busy enjoying the food from the Team Rocket trio's picnic basket and the three members of the criminal organization were tied up to a nearby tree while being forced to watch what was taking place. "Oh no, they're eating all rice balls…" muttered Jessie, not liking what she was seeing.

"They're drinking all the lemonade!" exclaimed James, equally as upset as Jessie was.

"This is cruel and unusual..." Meowth tried to speak up only for the leader of the Squirtle Squad to interrupt him before he had a chance to finish what he was going to say.

_Why don't you just shut up!_ he snapped at the Normal-Type and resumed his meal, though nobody would notice that a certain admin was silently watching this moment with a darkened expression on his face from a location that was nearby but far enough from the view of the Pokémon present.

"Those aren't Squirtles... they're Pigles..." Jessie was gritting her teeth as she wished that she could get her hands on one of those Water-Type Pokémon and that they needed to get out of this situation soon or things will truly go to hell.

"They're starting on the sandwiches..." said James, feeling more hungry than ever and wanted a snack to munch on rather than just seeing it being eaten. "We've got to do something..."

Then pink-haired woman thought about it for a moment and realized that they could use this to their advantage. "Hey Squirtles, how would you like to do a little job for us?" she asked, getting their attention as she continued. "There these four kids with a Pikachu and a Clefairy, our boss would appreciate it if you helped us capture them. He'd make it worth your while."

_Forget it, you humans can't be trusted..._ said the Squirtle Squad leader, waving off the female Rocket member's offer much to her annoyance. Unfortunately things were about to get more problematic when a familiar screech was heard and Scyther emerged from the bushes. What the... Is that _a Scyther?_

"Oh great, just when we don't already have problems..." muttered Meowth as the Bug/Flying-Type paid no attention towards the trio and had his glance simply towards the Water-Type Pokémon in front of him, preparing to attack if he tried any bright ideas.

_I see that you are enjoying your well deserved meal?_ He asked the group, as if he wanted to gain their trust in a way despite them wondering where he had come from and the mantis Pokémon wished to use this to his and Taichi's advantage. _Don't mind those fools, they are merely my pawns and can also be considered expendable._

"Expendable?! Why you..." James never got to finish what he was going to say as Scyther sliced the tree that he and his partners tied to, which he and Jessie were able to move their legs up to avoid them being cut off but the downside is that the tree fell on top of them and Meowth due to its weight.

_Now as I was saying, once you have finished eating... I require your assistance..._ said Scyther, piping the Squirtle Squad's interest as to witnessing what the Bug/Flying-Type had done to the trio earlier which allowed the group of Tiny Turtle Pokémon to lower their guard and approach their fellow Pokémon. _Good, now listen and listen well..._

While this was happening, Taichi grinned to himself as the Squirtles were slowly starting to trust Scyther, realizing that if he wants something done right then he's going to have to take matters into his own hands from now on. "Perfect..." he said, though he received a signal from his communicator and answered. "What is it?"

"Taichi sir, this is Annie and Oakley reporting for duty..." came the voice of the familiar sisters hired by Team Rocket and the Admin's face remained serious as he responded back, wanting results in their current mission.

"Yes, tell me did you get the prisoner yet?"

After a few seconds, Oakley's voice was heard from the man's wrist. "We did but unfortunately, we hit a snag and she managed to escape." She informed her superior officer and caused him to scowl in disgust upon hearing this.

"What did you just say?!" he asked in anger, knowing that this couldn't have been possible as Oakley and her sister were two of the best members the organization could muster and they allowed the captive to escape. "How could you two be so useless?! You're almost as bad as those three stooges!"

"We're sorry, but rest assure we will get that girl if it kills us..." came Annie's voice, trying to explain to their higher ranking member that she and her sister will be fixing their mistake shortly.

"Like hell you will, cause I'm actually going to take care of this personally" explained Taichi, having a feeling that he knows that the girl in question might meet with the trainers who were getting in Team Rocket's way and will want to make sure they never do so again. "I want you to collect those three morons by where the tree fell, am I clear?"

"Understood..." communications was cut after that and he turned his attention back towards the Squirtle Squad and his Scyther, believing he can make this work to his advantage but also has plans of his own involving the Pokémon in question.

* * *

Ash and co decided to make a stop at a nearby lake as they wanted to at least rest up before continuing their journey, while Ash and Anna were interacting with May, Richie and Relena, Pikachu and Clefairy were getting along quite well with Torchic and Kagura as they were quite surprised that May's Torchic is from the Hoenn region along with May but more so when they learn of Kagura's story and how she became Relena's Pokémon.

'_It must have been bad for how you were treated huh..._' frowned Clefairy, a bit saddened to hear of when Kagura was abused by her former trainer, especially after having evolved into a shiny Froslass rather than a Glalie. '_Well I'm glad you won't have to worry about it anymore._'

'_It's almost like how Oddish and Charmander were abandoned by that jerk Damian, only difference is that he said he would return for them and never did..._'added Pikachu, having to remember their encounter with Damian from earlier and was disgusted to even think on that.

'_You don't have to worry about Damian, Richie and Relena managed to deal with him swiftly after you guys rescued Charmander from the storm,_' smiled Kagura as she let the two Pokémon in on a little secret that they might not have known about. _'__He won't be getting anymore Pokémon anytime soon, especially with the ones he had being stripped from him. They also stripped him of all his badges too._'

'_That's a _relief..'. Torchic was pretty glad that Damian won't be abandoning anymore Pokémon now and turned to see Misty near the lake, letting her Magikarp swim around for a bit which made the Fire-Type smile brightly at this.

Though it was then as Magikarp swam to the left that he noticed something swimming by and decided to go check it out. "Hey Magikarp!" Misty called out to her Water-Type Pokémon, wanting to keep an eye on him and make sure he wouldn't get into any trouble, managing to catch up to the red fish when she saw what he was witnessing. "Wow, what is that?"

The Pokémon was actually a lovely Goldeen, which jumped out of the water a few times while being graceful in her swimming. "I want that Pokémon, you ready?" asked the former Cerulean City Gym leader, looking quite eager to capture the Water-Type Pokémon not too far from her and a nod confirmed that he was ready. "Alright, let's start things with a Tackle attack but be careful of its horn!"

Magikarp silently went into the water and waited for the Goldeen to get close enough, when she was, he swam at her to deliver a powerful tackle against the other fish while hoping that the training he had received earlier would help him. The Goldfish recoiled a bit from the hit and saw that the Pokémon in front of her was an enemy then proceeded with using a Horn Attack on the Fish Pokémon.

Unfortunately the attack hit its mark, shocking Misty almost instantly as her Magikarp came out of the water and splashed back in. "Magikarp, Magikarp! Are you okay?" she asked him, praying he wasn't seriously hurt.

'_Yeah... I think I'll be okay... I can still fight..._' muttered the red fish, wishing to keep fighting Goldeen despite the odds being against him right now much to Misty's concern, she didn't want to go against his wishes though she doesn't want him to get hurt either as she saw the Goldeen preparing to strike again and needed to act fast.

"Quick get back under water!" she ordered, wanting Magikarp to dodge the second Horn Attack that Goldeen tried to hit him with and it began going after him from bellow. "Try Tackle again, but hurry!" With that said, the Fish attempted to tackle the Gold Fish again only to his dismay it was dodged.

'_You have to be faster than that!_' yelled Goldeen, preparing for another Horn Attack, only this one Magikarp was able to get out of the way on time which annoyed the other Water-Type Pokémon to no end when it happened. The seemingly-useless carp Pokémon then struck back with a quick Tackle attack, causing the goldfish Pokémon to lose her balance for a second. Her irritation growing, Goldeen performer a Tail Whip in order to distract Magikarp, then used a variation of a Peck attack, poking at the fish Pokémon's scaly hide with her horn. '_Hmph, not bad… but in the end, you are still just a Magikarp! A weak Pokémon such as you doesn't stand a chance against a real fighter!_'

'_Don't count on it! Misty believes in me, and I won't let her down!_' Magikarp replied. When Goldeen tried to attack him again with a Horn Attack, Magikarp answered by quickly sprinting out of the water, and dodged the thrust by jumping out of the water! _Yeah! I managed to use my Splash attack for something!_

In disbelief, Goldeen looked up at Magikarp, who was still flailing about in midair… and failed to see him coming down in time! The red carp dropped down on Goldeen with all of his considerable weight, and knocked her out like a light, causing Goldeen to float to the surface with a dazed expression on her face! Misty smiled and gave Magikarp a victory sign, before taking a Pokéball out of her bag and throwing it at the stunned Goldeen. The goldfish Pokémon was hit and sucked inside the ball, then bounced back on the shore and moved back and forth for a couple seconds before laying still.

"Alright! I caught a Goldeen!" Misty exclaimed joyfully. "Thank you very much, Magikarp! I knew you were not a useless Pokémon! You see? Simply by using your Splash attack a little more creatively, you managed to take out a Pokémon that was apparently stronger than you are!"

The red fish emerged, looking somewhat flabbergasted that he had actually managed to take down a Goldeen… and then began splashing happily in the water, celebrating his victory! "_Yay! I did it! I actually did it!_" he exclaimed. "_I can't believe it… but I actually defeated a Goldeen! So… that means I'm not weak and useless, does it, Misty?_"

"That's what I've been telling you all along, Magikarp!" the redhead answered, winking at the carp-like Pokémon, who chuckled to himself and wagged his tail around like an happy dog! "C'mon, Magikarp, time for you to take some rest! You did a great job there!"

"_Thank you…_" the carp-like Pokémon said in slight embarrassment, before Misty recalled him in her Pokéball. Ash, who had been looking at the scene, smiled slightly, feeling glad for his friend for having caught a new Pokémon… then, still a little shocked and disappointed over his earlier loss to Eelektross, he sighed as he turned back to Pikachu.

"_Hey, Ash, are you feeling alright?_" the Electric-type starter asked him. "_You look like you're a little… under the water…_"

"Oh, sorry, Pikachu… I'm still a little shaken up by what happened with that Unova Pokémon… Eelektross, I think her name was…" Ash answered, shaking himself out of the daze he was in. "Boy, did she ever mess up Pidgeotto… I guess I had it coming, after all, I was getting cocky and underestimated her. Boy, there sure are a lot of strong Pokémon in the world. Anna and I haven't even begun to scratch the surface of it…"

"_Don't think too hard about it. We'll train, and one day we will be strong enough to take down that Eelektross._" Pikachu encouraged his trainer. "_For now… I guess we still have to deal with this Squirtle squad. And I think those two Team Rocket clowns shouldn't be that far away either._"

However, it was then that they noticed something the moment Pikachu mentions the Squirtle Squad and to their surprise, it was one of the members of the squad itself rising out from within the lake. To Ash, he was wondering why it was suddenly here of all place. The Squirtle on the other hand, simply fired a Water Gun attack which soaked Ash and the others before they could have time to react then started laughing at this.

Pikachu, wasn't too happy about this and prepared to use a Thundershock attack which the Tiny Turtle jumped out of the water and hit the Electric-Type with a Tackle on the chest. _Too slow!_ yelled the Water-Type, looking forward to this.

_Hey! What do you think you're doing?_ demanded Clefairy, smacking the Squirtle with a Double Slap to his face and joined Pikachu as he got back onto his feet. Of course, their respective trainers were not too thrilled with what was going on.

"Alright, I had enough of your pranks Squirtle... Pikachu use Quick Attack!" ordered Ash, having his starter move at top speed and collided with the Squirtle, knocking it onto its back. "Since he's out of the water, Pikachu, time for Thun..." Unfortunately he didn't finish what he was going to say as several ropes appeared from out of nowhere and tied up him and his friends. "What the?!"

The other members of the Squirtle Squad laughed as they pulled the humans towards them, then appearing was a certain Mantis Pokémon, which was new to Ash and the others as they were tied up even more._ Well done, I'm sure you will be rewarded for your successful mission._

The Squirtle Squad leader grinned as Pikachu, Clefairy and Torchic, who had joined the two Pokémon, were suddenly out-numbered. Fortunately, Pikachu could use his Thundershock to take out all the Squirtles and Scyther at once, the downside is that Ash and co would be hit by the attack as well. _Just who are you anyway?_ He demanded to know what kind of Pokémon that the new comer was.

_That is of no importance but it looks like you are surrounded... _grinned the Bug/Flying-Type, raising one of his blades at May's neck. _I suggest that you three simply surrender or would you prefer one of those pathetic humans lose their head?_

_You bastard!_ cursed Pikachu, seeing that the Mantis was actually going to make good on his threat as the blade went closer towards May's throat and he, Clefairy and especially Torchic can't do anything without harming their trainers. With no other options available, they were forced to stand down which Scyther was beginning to laugh once more as everything was going according as planned.

'_Take these fools to the cave nearby, I want them to see what we are going to accomplish..._' he ordered the Squirtle Squad, which began to take the captive humans and their Pokémon off to an area which he has secretly informed his trainer about.

However the Scyther was unaware that he was being followed by Kagura, Relena's special shiny Froslass as she fired an Ice Beam attack at the vile Scyther in the back causing the Mantis Pokémon to widen his eyes as he fell forward and then quickly turned back to see who or what Pokémon had attacked him in the back only to find no one or no other Pokémon in sight and for a brief second felt a slight chill on his feet but shrugged it off as he proceeded to go towards the cave. Right as he was about to enter the cave, flashes of electric energy and cries coming from the Squirtle Squad got Scyther to rush into the cave and see that the Squirtles were all knocked out and his prisoners were in the process of being freed. This made Scyther angry and he prepared to attack Kagura when he thought that her guard was down. Scyther than prepared to use his Night Slash attack when Kagura turned around and saw that Scyther was going to use his Night Slash and sidestepped it right as it was coming down. Kagura then used her Ice Beam attack which did a lot of damage thanks in part to the NeverMeltIce she had around her neck.

'_Gah!_' exclaimed Scyther as he fell back and was dazed.

'_Hurry everyone,_' insisted Kagura as hurried them towards the cave's exit. '_I know someone who will be very disappointed in a certain Squirtle._'

Kagura then freed the captive Pokémon and hurried them out the cave as well until Scyther got back up and was about to cut Pikachu and Clefairy off from escaping and was then hit with another Ice Beam to the back. Scyther then turned to Kagura and said, '_I thought goodie-two shoes Pokémon like you never attacked a bad guy in the back._'

_'What makes you think that I'm a complete goodie two shoes Pokémon?_' challenged Kagura. '_My last trainer was a villain and I picked up a few things from her even though she abused me._'

Scyther narrowed his eyes at Kagura and prepared to try and use his Night Slash attack again on the Sinnoh Ice/Ghost Pokémon. As Scyther closed in, Kagura then used her Hail attack as an unexpected twist and then disappeared in the hail. Scyther gritted his teeth as he looked around searching for Kagura trying to pin her down.

'_I know you're only using this hailstorm to hide yourself,_' Scyther snarled into the hailstorm. '_Come out and fight me you coward!_'

Scyther did not get an answer from Kagura but felt another Ice Beam hit him in the back. This Ice Beam was a lot stronger thanks to the hailstorm and Kagura's NeverMeltIce strengthening the power of the Ice Beam attack. Scyther was getting really fed up with the dirty attacks and attacked every shadow that he saw. Most of the shadows were of the Squirtle Squad that tried to get off the ground. Scyther was only knocking them back down. After getting buffeted by the hail and the hailstorm died down Scyther saw that his 'minions' were down and out for the count.

'_Useless,_' Scyther said to himself. '_I shouldn't have relied on those little Water Pokémon. They're just just as worthless as those three incompetent fools. But I'm really pissed off that I got bested by an Ice-type Pokémon._'

Everyone had gotten away with all their Pokémon and not one had been injured during the escape. As they rejoined the group, Kagura manged to rejoin them. "Why was that Pokémon after us?" asked May. "What did I ever do to deserve this?"

"I'm not sure," answered Ash as he looked at the group.

"I should've guessed that was Taichi's Scyther," Relena said as she looked to see that Aurora had finally found her after looking for a few berries to eat. "You missed quite a party, Father."

'I bet I did,' Aurora said as he was quick to put Relena on his back. 'But it looks like all of you have escaped the party.'

"Yeah, but I'm afraid they're not done with us yet…" Anna answered. "We need to get as far away from here as possible, before we run in those guys again."

"You will get no argument from me." Ash answered. "I definitely wouldn't like to face that Scyther again. Relena, can you tell us where we can find an escape route?"

The girl nodded from Aurora's back, and pointed to the road ahead of them. "Just follow me and Aurora. We've seen a road that goes through the forest in this direction. If we follow it, it should take us far enough for that guy."

"Thank you, Relena… thank you, Aurora!" May thanked. "For a moment, I thought we were done for there!"

Aurora smiled and nodded at the Hoenn girl. 'You are most welcome, young one. After all, we could not get involved when someone is being harassed by those Team Rocket good-for-nothing, could we? Lead the way, Relena.'

"Let's go." Relena said, motioning for the rest of the team to follow her down the road heading for the deeper part of the forest. Soon enough, the team had gotten away, leaving only an empty clearing behind…

When Taichi and his Scyther got there, followed by a battered and weary Squirtle Squad, the Team Rocket agent frowned, obviously displeased with how things had gone. "You did a sloppy job there, Scyther. I thought I had trained you better than that, and instead, you let those fools get away like a beginner."

"_I am mortified, Taichi…_" the praying mantis said, sincerely displeased about his failure. "_You can punish me however you deem appropriate for my failure._"

Taichi narrowed his eyes, then decided there were more important things to worry about at the moment. "We'll talk about that later. For now, let's just concentrate on finding those meddling kids and give them the what for. Try to find them, Scyther. If you can do it, I will overlook your mistake."

"_Thank you, Taichi._" The Bug / Flying type answered, trying to use all of his senses to try and locate Ash and his friends. He managed to catch a faint scent in the direction they had escaped to, and pointed one of his scythe-arms in that direction. "_They went that way! If we hurry, we can still catch them!_"

"You heard him, you bunch of slackers!" Taichi thundered to the Squirtle Squad. "Pick yourselves up and do your job taking out those trainers. I won't be lenient with you if you fail me again."

"_Alright…_" the Squirtle leader murmured tiredly. He was beginning to think that associating with Team Rocket and with this guy in particular, had been a serious mistake. Especially after seeing how Kagura had taken down Scyther… he had to admit, Kagura had been impressive there!

"_Hey, boss… I don't like that we still have to follow this guy!_" one of the Squirtles whispered to the leader, taking care not to be heard by Taichi and his Scyther, who fortunately were too busy trying to follow Ash's tracks. "_I don't look forward to getting beat up again by those trainers… they were really strong to be able to stand up to that Scyther._"

"_Yeah, I know what you mean._" The Squirtle leader answered. "_So listen, guys, first chance we get, we dump Team Rocket and side with those trainers. This guy will never see it coming._"

"_Great idea, boss!_" another Squirtle answered, as the squad began following Taichi and Scyther, with Team Rocket's hot air balloon hovering in the sky above them…

"Well, well would you look at that!" laughed Meowth, watching the whole event going through, his focus being more on the Squirtle Squad itself as he saw that they were following Taichi and his Scyther for some reason. "It looks like his plan isn't going as well as he'd hoped."

"That's what we're here for… we're the clean-up department" grinned James, they had been preparing for just such an occasion while Taichi was busy deceiving the Squirtle Squad, the trio had recently recovered and did some plotting of their own.

* * *

_Flashback_

* * *

_Everyone in the town near the area were enjoying their lives but had a bad feeling the Squirtle Squad would return to cause more trouble for them, however as this was happening… a certain trio of Pokémon thieves were on the move. "Alright freeze!" snapped Jessie, she and James each holding a machine gun at the owner of the Pokémon Mart. "This is a stickup!"_

"_Oh no, it's Team Rocket!" yelled one of the customers, raising his hands in the air along with everyone else inside the store as the three members had come for something important._

"_Cool, we're just like those Super-Villains from comics" laughed Jessie, with a wicked grin on her face, liking this kind of robbery, one where they aren't stopped by the good guys for once._

"_And even meaner…" added James, agreeing with his partner in crime on this compliment and nodded._

"_Don't forget why we're here" explained Meowth, knowing that they don't have time to waste as for all they know, the kids would have already been dealt with by now. "The police will be here any moment so let's not screw this up."_

"_Listen up, we want all the flash powder you got!" demanded Jessie while looking quite ready to shoot the moment someone tries to stop them from their mission. _

"_And a large roll of dental floss too!" _

"_What do you need them for?" asked the owner of the Pokémon Mart, a bit afraid of what they planned to do with the items they're stealing from him._

_Jessie turned to his direction and said. "You want to be rid of the Squirtle Squad don't you? The flash powder will scare them right out of town! The floss though is for our teeth." It took a while but they got what they came for and prepared to make their great exit._

"_Alright, let's get going!" reminded Meowth, having acquired the means to make the next phase of their plan work to their favor._

"_Ciao for now!" grinned James with Jessie firing the bazooka that Meowth handed to her in order to create smoke to mask their escape as it was now clear sailing all the way for them as everyone was pretty surprised to see Sakura petals floating down inside the mart while the Meowth-head Balloon returned to the sky._

* * *

_End of Flashback_

* * *

"Well, all things considered… it looks like we'll be getting our piece of the action sooner than anticipated" said Jessie, grinning at the thought of trying this newest plan they just came up with and even wanted to show Taichi that they aren't as incompetent as he said they were. "Once this is all over, not only will the boss have Pikachu but also these Squirtle as well."

"I love the way you think Jessie" laughed James, imaging him and his partners in crime getting a possible promotion for this successful mission if things go well in fact he even had the perfect Pokémon to help them with this task as he never got to use it the first time but now there's going to be some serious payback coming.

* * *

Within 30 minutes Taichi, the Squirtle Squad and Taichi's Scyther had caught up to the group and about to overtake Ash and co. Taichi gave a scowl as he saw the natives of the Atlantica Islands and their quadruped Pokémon. He then looked to Ash and May, who clung to Ash hoping that Taichi would buy the lie she fed to Annie and Oakley earlier.

"You know why I'm here," Taichi said to the group. "Hand that girl you're protecting. Even if she's not the model Annie and Oakley were hired to kidnap, she's still a valuable hostage."

"Don't you mean an 'expendable hostage'?" countered Relena. "I know jerks like you are more than likely to kill the hostage after they get the ransom and then send the dead body back to the parents."

"Not my fault," Taichi snapped at Relena. "If the parents paying the ransom would say, 'We went our child returned alive,' then maybe the hostage would be returned alive instead in a body bag."

'He does raise a valid point,' Aurora said to his adopted daughter. 'A lot of times, the ones paying the ransom expect the hostage takers to just return the hostage alive.'

"Now then back to business," Taichi said bringing focus back to the situation at hand. "Give me the girl or else you'll pay the price for interfering in Team Rocket's business."

"Not a chance," countered Ash as he readied his Pokédex to find out more on the Pokémon that the Admin has with him as it was the exact same Pokémon that the Squirtle Squad had brought with him previously when they tried to capture the humans.

_Scyther, the mantis Pokémon. Scyther leaps out of tall grass and slices prey with its scythes. The movement looks like that of a ninja._

Remaining silent, Ash ultimately prepared a Pokéball to throw out and to battle while remembering what kind of weakness that the Pokémon in question had due to being a Bug/Flying-Type. "I'm too powerful and you're not even worth my time... boy," Taichi said to the younger man with an icy tone and a scowl. "Get out of my way otherwise I'll end your life right now."

Ash however would not budge as he felt some obligation to protect May from Taichi and any harm he might try to bring on her. Taichi snorted and shook his head as he said, "It's time to put you out of your wretched misery. Scyther, put this little boy out of his misery."

'_Gladly,_' Scyther said with an evil grin.

"Go Charmander, we gotta protect May," Ash said as he threw his first Pokéball out releasing the fire lizard Pokémon.

'_I'm on it Ash,_' replied Charmander as he took a battle stance.

"Scyther, use your Night Slash on that little runt Charmander," ordered Taichi to which Scyther readied his attack as his scythes were glowing with dark energy and charged at Charmander with lightning quick speed.

"Quick Charmander, dodge it and use Ember," Ash said as he tried to get a good start in the battle.

'_Weak, weak, weak and SLOW!_' exclaimed Scyther as he slammed his Night Slash attack into Charmander and knocked him out in one hit. '_You're not a challenge at all. Do yourself a favor and surrender to Team Rocket as a hostage. Otherwise you'll die a painful death._'

"I'm not giving up just yet," snapped Ash as he tried to ready his next Pokéball until he saw that Taichi's Scyther was about to charge at him and deliver a fatal blow.

'_Goodbye foolish human,_' Scyther said as he was close to deliver the fatal blow to Ash.

Before Scyther could deliver that fatal blow, a Flamethrower attack came from behind Ash's right shoulder and struck him dead center in the chest and knocked him into a tree trunk. He then turned to see the same Unova Pokémon that had disgraced him and his Pidgeotto earlier in the day. The Eelektross, named Natsuko, gave a slight glance to Ash and sighed at the sight of him.

'_You really need to learn when and where to pick your fights, little boy,_' Natsuko said to Ash.

'_Eelektross?_' Pikachu asked the eel-like Pokémon.

'_The name's Natsuko to you little yellow mouse Pokémon,_' Natsuko informed Pikachu before looking to a disheartened Ash. '_I'll deal with this Bug-type Pokémon myself._'

'_You're in way over your head... whatever you are,_' Scyther said with a slight crack in his tone.

Natsuko then used her Thunderbolt on Scyther as the Bug/Flying Pokémon went wide-eyed and just got out of the way as the thunderbolt struck where he had just peeled himself off the tree.

"Use Night Slash on that Pokémon," Taichi ordered Scyther and the Mantis complied as he was hoping for a quick and easy victory like he had with Ash's Charmander.

'_This battle is already OVER!_' shouted Scyther.

Natsuko sighed as she caught the Night Slash attack with her left claw and then countered with a Fire Punch attack to Scyther's gut and then burned the Mantis Pokémon. '_You were saying Mantis Pokémon?_' she countered as she let Scyther go and then reared back, gathering electrical energy around her body.

Taichi saw this then threw a second Pokéball out with another Pokémon in it. "Go Pinsir, support Scyther now," he ordered his other Bug-Type Pokémon.

'_I'm on it Master Taichi,_' said the Stagbeetle Pokémon as he moved towards Natsuko to block her from his prone teammate.

Natsuko then charged towards Scyther but was blocked by Pinsir and her attack connected with the Stagbeetle Pokémon and knocked him out in one move. Natsuko was fazed a little bit but was quick to recover as she gathered electric energy again and charged at Taichi's Scyther quickly. Scyther saw Natsuko charging at him and struggled to get back up and tried to raise his scythe-arm to defend himself from the incoming attack from Natsuko. Natsuko connected with her attack and almost put Scyther down for the count. Natsuko then glared at Taichi as he said, "Natsuko... an interesting name for you. It means 'summer child,' right?"

'_What's it to you?_' countered Natsuko before disappearing into the forest.

The Team Rocket Admin wasn't all that happy with his Pokémon being defeated and his attention turned back towards Ash. However, just as he was about to say something… another problem had occurred with a familiar female cackle being heard and an explosion nearby took place. _What are those three doing here?! _He thought, gritting his teeth upon witnessing the Meowth-head balloon hovering above everyone.

"That blast! It couldn't be!" exclaimed Ash, with the Rocket trio reciting their infamous motto much to the annoyance of Taichi, having given them exclusive orders to leave Ash and his friends to him and to him alone Unfortunately, Jessie and James threw two more bombs onto the ground and the Admin jumped out of the way to avoid being injured by the explosion.

"Alright James, let's do this!" laughed Jessie, with James nodding his head and sending out his two Pokémon, Koffing and his newly caught Bellsprout came out while determinded to make sure this plan succeeds.

"Bellsprout, time to start things out with Sweet Scent!" he informed his Grass/Poison-Type and watched it exhale a pinkish aurma towards Ash and his group, which apparently only affects Pokémon such as Aurora, Pikachu, Sparky, Clefairy, Torchic, Kagura and the Squirtle Squad as well, causing them to lower their guard in a way. "Your turn Meowth!"

"With pleasure Jimmy-Boy!" added Meowth, a large net that was attached to the bottom of the balloon was dropped, trapping the group's Pokémon within it and then raised it to retrieve their aquired prizes as the trio was preparing for their quick get-away. "Sorry to have to leave you hanging, but we need to get going now."

"It's been a real blast twerps, here's a little something to remember us by..." added James, throwinng another bomb onto the ground alongside Jessie and they landed right near Ash and co were standing, causing them to explode as the group tried to get out of the blast zone. "Alright Koffing, use Smokescreen to help us get out of here..."

_With pleasure... _grinned Koffing, preparing to let out smoke black smoke to help them escape when the balloon began shaking, catching the trio off-guard and they looked only to be shocked that Aurora used his Ice Beam attack to created a hole in the net large enough for all the Pokémon inside to get away and rejoin their trainers on the ground. _What the?!_

"Houston, we have a problem..." exclaimed Meowth, horrified by what had just happened and realized that he and his partners needed to do something otherwise the Pokémon are going to completely get away.

"You don't have to tell us twice!" yelled Jessie, not in the mood for this as they had a job they needed to get done and James nodded, agreeing that there was no time for this which they prepared more bombs for their task.

"Idiots, did they really think they were going to capture that Legendary Pokémon so easily..." Taichi muttered to himself, recognizing that Aurora was extremely powerful than most Pokémon in existance and even he knew that it was going to take more than just a simple net to capture one as powerful as that.

"Aurora's not a legendary Pokémon," Relena corrected Taichi. "At least not in my home region."

Taichi silently growled at the young girl and turned his attention back towards what was happening, all the Pokémon had now rushed out of the net and were attacking the hot air balloon, causing Meowth, James and Jessie to hold on for dear life. Just then, Taichi's Scyther began picking himself up from the ground and shook his head, dazzled from the blow he had received from Natsuko. He managed to focus back on his surroundings and glared angrily at Ash. If only he had managed to take out that meddling kid, he would at least feel vindicated…

While Ash and the rest of the team were distracted and seemed not to pay him any heed, Scyther crouched low on the ground and quickly got closer, until he finally had Ash in his sights… then, almost faster than the eye could see, the praying mantis Pokémon dashed forward towards Ash, and delivered a powerful blow with his scythe-like arms! Ash managed to barely see him coming in time, and acting on sheer reflexes, he doge sideways… but he was still struck in the shoulder by Scyther's sharp blades, which drew a straight cut into the young boy's right shoulder, badly wounding him!

For a split second, Ash felt nothing… then, he screamed in pain and held his hand to the bleeding wound as he staggered backwards, finally dropping to the ground in front of his shocked sister and Pikachu!

"Ash!" Anna exclaimed in panic.

"_Oh no… Ash!_" Pikachu squeaked.

Taichi's Scyther grinned bitterly. "_Heh. That will teach you. Consider yourself lucky, else you would be already dead!_"

Ash groaned in pain and held his hand as tight as possible on the wound on his shoulder, as rivulets of warm, crimson blood oozed through his fingers. The wound burned like fire, and the pain made it hard to concentrate… but he still managed to recover enough focus to give a new order to his Pikachu. "Ugh… I'll… I'll be fine, Pikachu! Just… focus on that Scyther! Use Iron Tail on him!" he murmured. Pikachu looked at his trainer in worry, but soon after, he frowned and dashed at Scyther, swinging his iron-hard tail around.

"_How dare you harm Ash!_" Pikachu exclaimed, delivering a vicious round house blow with his tail to Scyther's midsection. The Praying Mantis Pokémon tried to defend himself with his bladed hands, but the attack was too powerful, and he ended up staggering backwards as he waved his numb scythe-hands.

_Damn you! You won't escape!_ snapped Scyther, preparing an X-Scissor attack on the Electric Mouse and muttered another curse to see the attack dodged, which normally wasn't the case except when facing extremely powerful opponents as he was curious about the Pikachu himself.

Yet as this was happening, Ash despite being injured saw that the leader of the Squirtle Squad was on his back and couldn't get back up at all, which would prove to be dangerous as two bombs were unfortunately dropped in the Water-Type's direction as the Rocket trio was starting to become desprate with acomplishing their task and the male Ketchum ran over to his side as fast as he cover in an attempt to protect him from the explosion. "Ash!" screamed Misty, shocked as Ash was laying on top of the Squirte even though he was wounded earlier.

"Squirtle... are you okay?" he asked the Tiny Turtle, who was pretty shocked that the human had tried to save him after all the things he had done with two more bombs dropped at where the two laid and Pikachu was too preoccupied with fighting Taich's Scyther to help. "Don't worry about me, you need to get out of here right now..."

However, it was then that the Squirtle lifted Ash into the air with his arms and was able to carry the trainer out of the path of the bombs, much to the surprise of everyone present within the area, especially Ash's friends as the two were able to join up with them.

Taichi on the otherhand was furious at this sudden treachery, but was more shocked to see that the Pikachu that his Bug/Flying-Type was fighting against as they speak wasn't an ordinary Pikachu for some reason_. I wonder..._ he thought to himself, giving a gesture for the Mantis Pokémon and recieved a nod as his response they would witness that the explosions from the bombs that the trio was thrown was causing the forest nearby to catch on fire and the Admin scowled as it would attract unwanted attention such as the police.

It was then that he saw Ash and Squirtle on the top of the nearby cliff as their attention was towards the Meowth-head balloon itself. "Alright Squirtle, lets take them out with Water Gun!" ordered the raven-haired trainer.

_With pleasure... _the leader of the Squirtle Squad complied, using his Water Gun attack to pop a hole into the balloon and caused it to start flying out of control, resulting to the three Team Rocket members being sent blasting off. His smile faded as he turned towards Taichi, having a bone to pick with the Admin that he had once allied with. _Your turn Taichi!_

"Not likely, as you have a choice... come after me or save this precious forest..." he commented, pointing towards the large fire that was beginning to spread and grinned as he recalled Pinsir and Scyther back to their Pokéballs. "You better hurry as if this fire is left unchecked then the town nearby will also suffer."

The leader of the Squirtle Squad gritted his teeth in anger as he saw the fire raging out of control and beginning to engulf more and more trees. The decision was easy to make… although he felt angry at the idea of letting Taichi go like that. "_Darn… okay, everyone! We need to stop that fire before it spreads out too far!_" the Tiny Turtle Pokémon told his comrades. They all began shooting their Water Gun attacks at the flames, managing to slow them down somewhat… but it was clear that they couldn't do it alone!

"Aurora, we need to help them!" Relena said, to which the Legendary Pokémon that had become her surrogate father nodded and began doing a slow, elegant dance that summoned several rainclouds above the fire. Aurora quickly completed his Rain Dance, and the cloud thundered once before showering the flames in a thick, refreshing rain that hindered the fire and powered up everyone's Water-type attacks.

Anna stood up and reached for her Pokéball, but gritted her teeth and hissed in pain when a burning sensation crept up her spine. Reaching out for her back, she realized that her shirt was torn in the middle, and the close proximity to the flames had caused a burn mark to appear on her skin. Fighting off the pain, the female Ketchum twin stood up and released her Wartortle, who looked at her in worry.

"_Anna!_" the evolved form of Squirtle exclaimed, seeing that her trainer was hurt. "_How are you doing?_"

Anna smiled, squinting a little. "Don't worry about me, Wartortle… we need to help put out that fire!" she stated. "Help those Squirtles with your Water Gun!"

"_No problem!_" Wartortle answered, before spraying a large gout of water on the flames, helping to keep them under control. Misty called her Staryu and Starmie, and had them use a BubbleBeam attack as well, shooting a stream of high-speed bubbles at the inferno.

"It's going well! Let's keep at it!" Ash exclaimed, smiling despite the pain of his wound.

"I think I'd better help out as well." Brock said. "Geodude, Onix, come out! Use your Rock Throw to smother the flames!"

Geodude and Onix appeared and immediately picked up a few rocks from the ground before tossing them at the fire. Slowly but surely, the flames began dying down and receding… and in a few minutes, all that remained of the fire was a carpet of dying embers that had left most of the forest untouched.

"Phew… that could have been really dangerous… ow!" Ash exclaimed with a wince, immediately going back to nursing his injured shoulder. "Hey, where did that guy with the Scyther go? He wash ere just a few moments ago…"

"He's gone..." frowned Misty, not too thrilled with the sudden disappearance of the mysterious Taichi and having realized that he escaped while they were preoccupied with stopping the fire before it could get to the town nearby. "Nevermind that now, I'm sure we'll encounter him again but for now, you and Anna need to get some treatment done."

"I guess you're right" said Ash while slowly nodding his head, he still couldn't get over the fact that the trainer with the two Bug-Type Pokémon was extremely powerful and to think that he's a member of Team Rocket to boot.

It wasn't until Officer Jenny arrived on her Motorcycle to see that the Squirtle Squad with the help of Ash and the others were able to put out the fire, something she thought she'd never see in her life as last she recalled, the Squirtle Squad was always up to mischief though a smile formed on her face due to their heroic efforts in preventing the fire from reaching the town.

Taichi, on the otherhand was watching this scene from within the shadows and didn't look too pleased that his mission had ended in failure but no matter, other important matters to attend to for the time being. However, he attention was more towards Ash and his Pikachu than the others... for the first time in years, he found something that is of interest. _That Pikachu isn't ordinary, I'll have to keep an eye on it and that trainer as well... _he thought to himself, disappearing deeper into the darkness.

* * *

At the town near the area, Officer Jenny was pleased to bring some good news involving the Squirtle Squad from what she saw before and was also proud as she spoke to the people. "And so, we gratefully award this certificate to the Squirtle Squad, thank you for saving the town from the fire. Because of your skills and bravery, we proudly appoint you as the town's firefighters."

Everyone present cheered on at this anouncement, Ash and co were nearby as it took place and smiled at the Squirtle Squad, relieved that everything turned out fine in the end despite the wounds that the twins had recieved before. While the rest of the Squad was happy with their new job, the leader on the other hand had his attention towards Ash for all but a few seconds. Jenny cleared her throat before continuing her speech. "We would also like to thank Ash Ketchum and his friends for their assistance in stoping the fire and we just want to say, it is an honor having met you." She told the group of traveling trainers, showing her gratitude to them.

The news caught Ash and his friends off-guard for a moment but they returned the gesture as they were glad to have be able to help the town with their situation even though it could have gone even better without the whole scuffle with Team Rocket.

"It was a honor to have helped you as well." Richie answered with a smile. "By the way, Ash… Anna… are you two doing okay? I think you should have those wounds taken care of…"

Anna winced a little as the burn mark on her back stung a little, while Ash massaged his injured shoulder, which had been medicated with a makeshift bandage. "Oh, it's okay… we'll just head to the Pokémon Center and have a Nurse Joy take a look at our injuries. It shouldn't be a problem." The boy said, while his twin sister tried to cool her back with her shirt.

"Still, I think i could help you a little with that…" Relena said, lightly tapping on Ash's injured shoulder and closing her eyes for a short while. The boy winced a little and held his injured shoulder… but soon found out, much to his surprise, that the wound didn't hurt as much as it used to. In fact, it seemed to have closed up somewhat…

"Huh? Hey, Relena, what's this about?" a very surprised Ash asked, as Relena lightly touced the burn on Anna's back. The Ketchum girl hissed in pain just a litle, but soon felt a sense of relief wash over her, as if she had never been burned on the back in the first place. She could feel that the skin had returned healthy, and it wasn't hurting more than if she had had a slight sunburn.

"Hehehee… let's just say it's a small trick I learned some time ago. People from my home region learn to use various forms of magic. I learned some of those forms of magic including healing magic," Relena answered, somewhat mysteriously. Richie chuckled to himself, knowing that his girlfriend was not going to tell more than this. "In any case… all's well that ends well, I guess. We've chased Team Rocket away, and we managed to stop a disaster. I think we can be content with what we've done for now."

"_Hold on a second here. There is still something we have to sort out._" The leader of the Squirtle Squad said, raising his hand as he advanced towards Ash. The boy looked at the young man in surprise, and even May, who was sitting right beside Ash, seemed to be curious about what the Tiny Turtle Pokémon wanted. "_Ash, there is something I would like to ask of you… would you be interested in becoming my trainer?_"

The young boy blinked in surprise. "Huh? Are… are you sure about that, Squirtle? I mean, I like the idea, but… I just want you to be certain, that's all." he answered, taking a look at the other members of his team. Misty nodded in assent, as if to tell him that it wouldn't hurt to bring the Water-type Pokémon along. All of a sudden a special Pokéball that was two shades of pink and purple on the special Pokéball, appeared in Ash's left hand. This got Ash's attention as he noticed the pink and purple Pokéball; it was new to him as he eyed the pink Pokéball.

"What is this Pokéball?" asked Ash as he was examining the Pokéball.

"It's called a Dream Ball," answered Relena as she looked at the pink Pokéball that Ash had in his hand. "It catches Pokémon with abilities from a place called the Dream World."

"Where is this Dream World?" asked Anna.

Richie and Relena shrugged their shoulders as they answered, "We certainly don't know where this Dream World is."

"But why did I get this pink Pokéball," Ash asked Relena as he was still confused by how he got the Dream Ball in his left hand.

'Because the Squirtle has a special ability unlike regular Squirtles,' answered Thor.

'It has what's called a Dream World ability,' added Aurora. 'A Dream World ability is a special ability that a Pokémon has from the Dream World.'

'_My ability is known as Rain Dish,_' informed the Squirtle Squad leader. '_I regain strength whenever it's raining._'

'_Whoa, no wonder the boss was able to last longer when we battled those humans in rainstorms,_' the Squirtles whispered among each other.

"I certainly want you on my team though," Ash said to Squirtle.

'_Just don't expect me to come quietly,_' cautioned Squirtle.

"Then go get'em Pikachu," Ash ordered his faithful electric-type Pokémon/

'_I'm all over it,_' said Pikachu as he leapt off of Ash's shoulder.

'_Hope you're ready for a hard battle,_' Squirtle said to Pikachu, '_cause I don't down easy._'

'_Hope you're ready to fall hard,_' countered Pikachu.

"Alright Pikachu, use your Quick Attack," ordered Ash as he was quick to get the battle underway.

Pikachu quickly darted at Squirtle and connected with a hard Quick Attack and knocked the Squirtle on his back. Ash gave a slight grin on he saw the Tiny Turtle Pokémon looked be helpless.

"Alright Pikachu, use your Thunderbolt attack on Squirtle," commanded Ash.

Pikachu then let loose a powerful electric attack that struck the helpless Squirtleas it was on it's back. The Squirtle Squad leader cried in pain as it felt the Thunderbolt hitting him hard. His companions were about ready to make their move to help their leader until Aurora set himself in between them and their leader and shook his head.

'This is your leader's fight,' Aurora said to the rest of the Squirtle Squad. 'Let him fight this battle.'

The other Squirtles sighed as they watched their trying to get back up. Then Ash threw a Pokéball instead of throwing the Dream Ball at Squirtle hoping that he would go in without a problem. Squirtle did go in the Pokéball, shook once and broke out of it.

'_Are you trying to insult me with that Pokéball?_' Squirtle asked Ash in a mocking tone as he was standing up. '_I'm too good to be in a Pokéball like that._'

Squirtle then sent a Water Gun at Pikachu and connected with deadly accuracy and sent Pikachu back a couple steps.

'_Yeah, that's the way boss,_' cheered the other Squirtles. '_Show that Pikachu that you don't go down easy._'

"How do you think the battle will go for Pikachu, Father?" Relena asked Aurora as she was watching the battle.

'Normally I would say that Pikachu has the type advantage,' began Aurora, 'but we've beaten common theory that Pokémon type is key in battles.'

"That's true," agreed Relena. "It looks like the battle could go any way."

The exchange between Squirtle and Pikachu went on for another ten minutes and both Pokémon began to show signs of exhaustion. Ash looked at the Dream Ball and then to the Squirtle that kept breaking out of the same Pokéball that he used against the Squirtle decided to smash the Pokéball and said, '_Find a different Pokéball to use than that lame one._'

Ash gritted his teeth as he then looked to the Dream Ball in his right hand and then sighed.

"Fine, have it your way Squirtle," Ash said as he was a little upset with Squirtle taunting him. "Go Dream Ball!"

Ash threw the Dream Ball at Squirtle and the Tiny Turtle Pokémon was sucked into the Dream Ball. Squirtle was sucked in the Dream Ball and struggled to get out of the Dream Ball. Nine shakes of the Dream Ball later and Squirtle gave in as the Dream Ball gave a confirmation click that Squirtle had been finally caught. Ash was relieved and picked up the Dream Ball.

"Alright! I finally caught Squirtle!" exclaimed Ash as he lifted the Dream Ball in victory.

Pikachu jumped up as high as he could, but collasped from the tiring battle he had with Squirtle. Relena noticed that Pikachu was tired and got off of Aurora's back as she headed over to Pikachu. "You poor little cutie," Relena said softly and gently as her left hand glowed with healing magic, smiling brightly at the Electric-Type Pokemon. "Hang on, I'll heall you up."

'_Thank you,_' Pikachu said tiredly and let Relena heal him.

* * *

The rest of the Squirtle Squad were inducted into the town as their first Pokémon firefighting squad. May called her parents in Hoenn like Relena suggested to her even though she wanted to wait until another time to call her family. Her brother Max tried to convince his and May's parents to let him go to Kanto but May did not want Max to travel with her. May insisted that she wanted to hang out with her best friend and a certain cutie from Pallet Town she met. Caronline laughed at May's reference to Ash and May's father was a bit nervous when he heard that his little girl had met a boy in Kanto. But both parents gave May their permission on the condition that she listen to Relena and stay with her and her adoptive father. May looked to Aurora with an uneasy feeling and a sweatdrop on her forehead. She sighed and agreed to the terms laid out by her parents. May went over to Relena at Aurora's side.

"Mom and Dad and said that I can come with you," began May, "But they want me to hang with you and your... Pokémon."

"Welcome to the group May," Ash said to May as he had heard that May was staying with the group. "I'm sure that you'll fit in right away."

May looked at the rest of the group and gave a nervous nod to them and gave a slight bow to them as she thanked them for letting her joining the group. Needless to say, she figured that it would be safer to be around the group as Team Rocket may come back for her and she hated the idea of ending up dead. Without another thought, she held onto Ash's hand as they prepared to continue their trek for Vermillion City together.


	14. The Path to the Pokemon League

Disclaimer: If you haven't seen chapter 1, then you need to know again that I don't own anything from the Pokémon games or the anime at all. In fact, what surprised me is that the two new upcoming Pokemon games X and Y have retconned Gardevoir, Jigglypuff and Marill into Fairy-Type Pokemon, not that I have a problem with that decision but whatever.

Pokémon Rise of Heroes

The Path to the Pokémon League

By EmperorDraco7 and co-written by Lily Nadesico and NEBSparky86

The next morning, Ash and his team had woken up early in order to be back on their way to Vermillion City. And, more specifically, to the Underground Path that went underneath Saffron City and brought to the main sea port in Kanto, where Ash and Anna were going to face their third Gym battle. With May, Relena and Richie having joined them for that portion of the travel - although Relena and Richie had said that they would have had to part ways soon – it sounded like the next section of their travel was going to be very interesting indeed!

Still, Ash had noticed that, for some reason, May had no interest in training the Pokémon with her… which was something really unusual for anyone, in that world. Even people who were not interested in challenging a Pokémon League or anything like that were still living alongside Pokémon, and many had Pokémon helping them in their everyday jobs… but May seemed to have no interest in them, and Ash was somewhat curious to know why. Plus, May was pretty cute as well, and Ash had to say that he felt interested in knowing more about her…

"Okay, Ash, get a hold of yourself… Okay, May is cute, and she seems like a nice girl, but let's not get ahead of ourselves, okay?" he murmured to himself, before clearing his voice and trying to talk with the bandanna-wearing girl, just as the team was passing beside a forest area. By sheer coincidence, the girl seemed to be about to talk to him as well, and both of them ended up looking at each other straight in the eyes when they turned around!

"Say, Ash…"

"Say, May…"

Both blinked and looked at each other, before chuckling in amusement. "Okay, May… you first!" Ash answered, which caused May to nod in agreement and start her own question.

"Thank you…" she said. "I just wanted to know, Ash… why is it that you've decided to become a Pokémon Master? I mean… sure, it's a great goal, and I wish you good luck with that, but… is there any particular reason you decided that?"

Ash found himself thinking about it for a moment, not really sure of what to say. "Well… it's a little long to explain, actually." He stated. "I guess one reason is, I really like traveling the world and seeing new places, and even discovering new things. And Pokémon… well, they always end up revealing something to us. There is always something that can be discovered from them, and there are always new Pokémon that can be discovered as well."

May listened intently, and nodded. She had never thought of Pokémon that way. She had always thought they were just a thing of fashion and a matter of being "in with the crowd", and that was why she had never really been interested in them… but she had to admit that what Ash was saying had its merits. "Hmm… I think I understand what you mean." She answered.

"And then… well, there is a person my sister and I would love to meet, and becoming Pokémon Masters might just give us the chance we need to do so." Ash explained, now getting a little more wistful about it. May was sure she had seen a hint of sadness in the black-haired boy's eyes… "I'm talking about my father. He went away when both my sister and I were very young, and while I've heard of several of his exploits, I have never really seen him in person for all these years. Maybe, if we got to the Pokémon League, we'd have a chance at meeting him."

"Oh… I understand. In that case… I wish you good luck in meeting him!" May said, living Ash a small smile. Ash smiled as well and thanked with a nod of the head, and Pikachu chuckled to himself, thinking that those two were already hitting it off!

"Well, we've also encountered different kinds of Pokémon that aren't native to Kanto," added Anna. "Like that Eelektross that disgraced you and Pidgeotto."

"Do you have to bring that up to me?" whined Ash as he looked at his older sister.

"Natsuko is very powerful," Richie said to Ash. "She's been training herself for years. I heard she even took on a Kyorge too."

'_Hehehee… Ash and May sitting in a tree…_' the electric mouse giggled, to which Ash took a bright red color!

"Pikachu! It's not like that, really!" he protested. Pikachu shrugged his shoulder and smirked knowingly at him, unconvinced by Ash's justification.

Anna on the other hand, found it to be quite amusing and at the same time to be quite cute as well as she knew that this is the first time her kid brother has ever found a girl whom he has taken a liking to. "Come on Ashy, I'm sure that Pikachu was just teasing" she said, though this time it was May's turn to laugh a bit.

"Ashy?"

"Let's just say that it's a nickname that I've grown to use on Ash from time to time even when we were little" smiled Anna, seeing as she may take a liking to the new girl then thought back a bit to their friends from home. "You know, my brother and I aren't the only ones who started our journey from Pallet Town... our friends David and Rena also began their journey from there, even got a head start on us… then again, I have a feeling we'll be encountering them again soon."

"Wow, I have to be honest… I did sometimes wish I could visit my old home in Johto's Olivine City someday as my family and I moved to Littleroot Town in Hoenn a while back after my father became the Gym Leader of the Petalberg City Gym" explained May, surprising the group in a way as they never actually heard of the Johto Region though it would be a place to consider going to in the future.

"Wow, if it were my family and I, we wouldn't want to leave Pallet Town…" said Anna, understanding what it was like growing up somewhere and having a sense of nostalgia towards it when leaving. "Let's just say that has sentimental value towards us."

"In that case, we shouldn't be much longer to or destination now as according to the Town Map that Daisy gave me, we should be closer towards the Underground Path" added Ash, reading the map in front of him.

"As long as we don't run into anymore trouble from Team Rocket" Misty was the next to speak, a bit furious on the fact that they have become a primary target for the organization due to getting in the way of their ultimate plans and especially as they don't know where to start in order to stop them for good. "Especially those three members we keep encountering."

"What's with this Team Rocket anyway?" asked May, which Ash and co remembered that it was her first time having encountered members of the organization of Pokémon Thieves to begin with so it's best that she knows who they are for if they encounter those guys again

"They're a group of thieves who use Pokémon for their evil gain, more so that Anna, Brock and I had our first encounter with them at Mt. Moon before we arrived at Cerulean City sometime ago" answered Ash, remembering what he had heard about Team Rocket before. "At first they were planning to steal the fossils at Mt. Moon in order to sell them off and later one member at the Nugget Bridge tried to convince me and Anna to join them while another had stolen a TM from a house in Cerulean City."

"Oh my God… that's terrible…" May was shocked to hear this, though Ash and the others weren't done yet.

"You don't know the half of it..." Anna nodded her head before continuing where her brother had left off. "There are three certain members we encountered at Mt. Moon that have been following us ever since their defeat there and trust me, it can be a bit of a pain to keep them from taking our Pokémon, but their main interest seems to be Pikachu and Clefairy, I can understand Clefairy as she's a rare Pokémon but Pikachu as well?"

"It's best if we don't worry about it for now, what's important is that we get to Vermillion City as soon as possible" suggested Brock, with the others understanding that he was right as Ash still intends to win his third Pokémon Badge as did Anna, who gave out a smirk on her face.

"Just don't get your hopes up though" Misty told Ash and Anna, since it would be a while before they even reach their next destination as they needed to train along the way as well as rest up whenever they get the chance. "There are a lot of tough trainers around here."

"Oh really?" grinned Ash, liking the sound of that despite the red-haired Gym Leader's warning to him and his sister before running ahead for the battles to come. "Well bring them on! I bet none of them have even one Pokémon Badge."

"Oh brother…" Misty let out a small sigh, having a feeling that something like this would happen as the raven-haired young man can be stubborn at times when it comes to battles with other trainers and hoped that it wouldn't go straight to his head.

Relena, for her part, was curious to know one thing. "Say, Misty…" she asked, hoping she would not be a bother. "Why did you start following Ash? I heard you were a Gym Leader at Cerulean City Gym…"

Misty blinked as she turned to Relena. "Oh, sorry… no, you're not bothering me, in fact I'm glad we can chat a little." She said. "I was a Gym Leader there, but I didn't exactly like it… I was kind of forced into the position, because my sisters, who were Gym Leaders before I was, weren't taking their position seriously and were just handing out badges to those who came to challenge us."

"That's not a good way to go about it." Relena said, shaking her head. "A Gym Leader can't ignore her duty to do whatever she wants. So… what happened then?"

"Ash and Anna arrived to the gym and challenged me to a Pokémon match, in front of my sisters." Misty explained. "I lost, but I managed to drive my point across to my sisters… and they decided to be more serious about their duties as Gym Leaders, and to let me travel the world like I always wanted! My dream… is to become a great Water-type trainer!"

Relena smiled at that. "That's great to know. I love Water-type Pokémon myself… and my father Aurora is one, in fact!"

Misty had a dubious look on her face. "What? Your father… would be a Pokémon?"

"It's a little long to explain…" Relena answered, gently stroking the majestic Suicune on his head. "Aurora and I have been through quite a lot of adventures, and he's been more of a father to me than my actual father ever was. If it wasn't for him… I don't think I'd even be here now."

'You need not trouble yourself over this, child,' Aurora answered gently. 'What is past is past now. It is the future we need to focus on right now.'

"I know, Father… I know…" Relena answered, giving Aurora a small smile, as Misty blinked in wonder, asking herself what kind of special bond those two had.

* * *

"Alright! We did it!" Ash cheered, as Charmander and Squirtle managed to take down their latest opponents, a tough-looking Raticate and a ferocious Spearow. "Good work, guys! That's our tenth win in a row!"

"_Thank you, Ash!_" Charmander answered, the flam on his tail burning as bright as ever.

"_I have to say, it wasn't too hard!_" Squirtle answered, tilting his glasses back in a cool way. The trainer Ash had just beaten sighed and recalled his defeated Pokémon, before congratulating Ash over his victory.

"You really are good, pal… maybe you would be good enough to take on AJ too!" the youngster said, before giving Ash some money for his victory. Ash accepted the money, but then blinked in surprise, having never heard that name before…

"_AJ? Who is this guy?_" Pikachu asked in surprise as well.

"From the sound of it, he has to be a pretty strong trainer…" Anna mused to herself.

The young man whom Ash had just fought nodded. "Yep… he's a strong trainer who set up an unofficial Gym close to here, and detains the record of 98 wins to no losses. He's a really tough opponent, and I don't think I've ever met anyone strong enough to defeat him before. You guys might just be the ones to defeat him at long last!" he said, pointing at Ash and Anna.

"Well, Ash... what is going to be our next stop?" May asked in curiosity.

"Right now we should be heaving to Vermillion City, it's where the next Pokémon Gym is located as is a ship called the S.S. Anne. But first, I'm curious to check out this AJ guy!" answered Ash, looking forward to winning his next Pokémon League badge.

Relena and Richie were on the backs of their quadruped Pokémon as they lead the way to Vermillion City.

"Alright, the Underground Path is close by," Relena said to the group. "After that, Vermillion City is 20 miles south of the passage."

"Are you sure about that?" asked Anna, hoping that Relena was right and needed to be sure on that.

Relena gave a slight nod to Anna.

"The Underground passage is a couple miles from here," said Relena. "We'll make it in no time if we don't see the likes of Team Rocket for a while."

"Good cause Ash and I are starting to get really annoyed with them, especially those three members we've been running into lately" explained Anna with a huff.

"Those Team Rocket guys," May said as she joined in the conversation about Team Rocket, though it does sound strange that the three members that were following them weren't so willing to give up. "They sound like persistent people..."

"Yes they are," agreed Relena. "But Richie and I have something we gotta tell you guys."

"What is it?" asked Anna, a bit curious on that.

The rest of the group looked to the champions from the Atlantica Islands as Richie cleared his throat and spoke. "Relena and I will escort you guys to Vermillion City," he began as he was on Thor's back.

'Then we must be on way throughout Kanto,' added Aurora. 'After that you will be on your own.'

Relena then looked to her best friend from Hoenn and then to Ash. "I see, well maybe we'll met again someday if it's possible..." he began, curious on how strong the two trainers with them are but decided not to battle with them just yet.

May sighed as she assumed that she was going with Relena and Richie as she was allowed to travel with her best friend. The female trainer from the Atlantica Islands had a smile on her face as she decided that the Johto-born trainer would be better off with Ash and the group instead. "May, why don't you stay with Ash and the group?" Relena asked her best friend from Hoenn.

"What? You really mean it?" asked May in surprise at what she heard.

"Yes I really mean it May," answered Relena with a smile on her face. "We'll talk to your parents once we get to Vermillion City."

"Okay, thank you Relena..." smiled May, happy that her friend is allowing her to go with Ash and the others as she did find the raven-haired boy to be cute and it would be best to stay with them in case Team Rocket went after her again.

"You're welcome May. Besides, you'll be a lot safer with Ash and the rest of the group than with me," explained Relena. "Especially since we're gonna have Taichi come after us."

"Why?" asked Anna. "He's too strong for one person to take on by themselves, especially with how he beat Ash's Charmander with one attack."

'Do not worry about us, child,' Aurora assured the oldest Ketchum. 'Relena and Richie didn't get to where they are by luck.'

"We can handle the pressure from Taichi," agreed Richie. "Our Pokémon are strong enough to handle him."

May sighed in relief and smiled. "That's very good to know. Thank you, Relena and Richie."

"Can't you at least stay with us a little longer?" asked Misty. "It would be nice to know you a little better and perhaps learn about your home region if it's not too much trouble."

Misty looked to the Ash and the others for help as she was trying to convince the champions from the Atlantica Islands to stay a little longer.

"Come on guys, help me out here," pleaded Misty.

Relena looked to Misty and the others in the group and then looked back to Misty as she said to the red-haired Water-type Pokémon trainer, "I'm sorry but that is our decision."

'Please understand Child of Water,' began Thor. 'You must learn to fight on your own and not rely on our strength.'

'Do not worry my young friends,' added Aurora with an assuring tone, 'you'll see us again from time to time in Kanto. You have our word.'

"You promise?" Misty asked Aurora with a cautious tone.

"You can trust Father," Relena said with a gentle smile. "Father's never broken a promise."

"Father?" asked a dumbfounded Misty as she was confused. "Why do you call him your father? What happened to you human father?"

'Relena's human father was sent to afterlife,' answered Aurora. 'I then adopted her as my daughter.'

"How terrible to hear," Misty said softly.

"Not if the father was a deadbeat, cheated on his wife expected her to be fine with it," Anna said to Misty as she recalled Relena's story.

"Oh, I see," replied Misty. "I'm sorry to hear that your human father was a..."

"You don't have to beat around the bush," Relena informed Misty. "You can say it. Richie and I have heard a lot of choice words during our travels."

"He sounds like he was a douche bag," replied Misty.

"Oh yes he was," agreed Relena. "But Aurora is a better father to me."

"A bit overprotective if you ask me," commented Richie.

Richie felt an Iron Tail hit him upside his head and noticed that it was his Pikachu, Sparky, who had hit him. '_He may be overprotective, but at least he's doing what Relena's father should've done,_' countered Richie's Electric Mouse.

"Ow, point taken," Richie said to Sparky as he rubbed his head. "Sorry Aurora."

'It's not a big deal,' replied Aurora. 'But once you marry my daughter, I expect to you to call me 'Father' like my daughter.'

Richie had a sweat drop on his forehead as he replied, "As long as I don't have to say 'Daddy,' it's not a big deal."

"Father was just kidding," Relena said with a small sigh as she shook her head and then flicked Aurora on the left side of his jaw. "Right... Father?"

'Heh, of course I was kidding, Relena,' Aurora answered with a slight chuckle.

After an hour of walking, they found what appeared to be a small backwater gym. It even had a sign on it as well. "AJ's Gym," Richie read the sign nearby and frowned at this. "Not even recognized by the Pokémon League."

'Look up there to see the win/loss columns,' Thor said to the group as he jerked his head.

Everyone looked up to the win/loss column and saw that this AJ person had 98 wins and no loss. As the group looked to the 98-0 record on his sign, a young boy about Ash and Anna's age appeared with a big backpack. He seemed to have a scowl on his face as he approached the group at the door to his 'gym.' "Well, well, are you my next victims?" he asked, hoping to see which of the trainers before him will be worthy of being his next opponent.

"You must be the one known as AJ…" frowned Ash, having a feeling that the trainer in front of them is the same trainer who they've heard about previously.

"Yep and beating chumps like you is my hobby" grinned the Wild Pokémon Trainer, believing he has his 99th opponent right now and hoped that he would give more of a challenge than the others he had defeated prior. "You ready to lose?"

With that said, the doors to AJ's Gym opened so the two can have their match and within it appeared to be a tent of some sort as well as a battlefield which he led the group towards with a cocky expression. Yet, Ash had other thoughts on his mind… especially as he couldn't stop thinking about having been disgraced by that shiny Eelektross from a while back… he swore to himself that he would not allow such a humiliating defeat happen again still, he wished that he hadn't been so overconfident as that led to his Pidgeotto losing with a single hit and the same had happened to Charmander when he took on Taichi. "Now this is not too shabby at all" said Misty before a Butterfree flew down towards AJ and descended to the ground to pick up the backpack then flew off.

"What's in the backpack?" asked Ash, the item in question having caught his attention.

"The wild Pokémon that I just caught, there's a whole bunch more in the tent too and then some" answered AJ with a frown, having piped Ash's interest a bit in what his opponent has while walking up to the arena.

"Could we see them after the match?"

"If you want…" explained AJ then turned his attention back to his newest opponent and continued upon having positioned himself on his side of the battlefield. "So which Pokémon will you use for my 99th win?"

Ash simply scowled as he walked over to the other side, someone needed to knock some sense into that guy and he intendeds to do just that… provided he knows what he's doing to prevent another humiliating defeat. 'Dammit, I needed to stop thinking like that… Maybe if I think differently, maybe I can surprise him,' he thought, preparing to reach for a Pokéball as he needed to be smart on who he will choose. "You're going to need to change your sign after this match as soon you'll be known as the formerly undefeated Pokémon trainer."

AJ cracked a whip that was now in his hand and grinned at the raven-haired male's response to him. "You think that you're hot stuff kid, but you're not playing in the Pokémon little League anymore!" He lashed at Ash with his whip, causing the others to be concerned especially Anna. "After I win 100 matches in a row, I'll start competing for badges."

"That means he's only two wins away" began Brock, realizing that AJ is right about this seeing that he never lost to anyone.

"Yeah and he'll be extra determined to win" added Misty, yet there was something about Ash that surprised her as normally he would mock his opponent after that remark though he was remaining silent as if what happened before with the shiny Eelektross and Taichi had changed him. "Just hope Ash knows what he's doing."

"Me too, after all he's facing someone who has never been defeated and for our sake, let's hope we're wrong" frowned Anna, seeing that her brother has to teach that punk a lesson he'll never forget and she will take over if he loses so to not give AJ the satisfaction so easily.

"You're saying you have 98 wins and you don't have a single badge? Now that is sad… right now I have two Gym badges and trust me they weren't easy" he finally spoke in a low tone as he needed to think clearly.

"Is that so? Did you buy those badges or did you steal them?" asked AJ while mocking the younger man. "Either that or you've competed in some loser Gyms, where were they? Failure City or Wimpsville?"

This remarked made both Brock and Misty really mad, causing a red fire-like aura to form around them. "What do you mean loser Gyms?" she asked the punk, as she knew that Ash and Anna earned their Gym Badges at Pewter City and Cerulean City.

"Hey Ash, pulverize this guy!" added Brock, refusing to allow AJ to get away with insulting their respective hometowns though the Wild Trainer had a Pokéball ready already so the match can start.

"Let's get started then, Sandshrew go!" he threw the ball towards the battlefield and in a flash of white light, a familiar Ground-Type Mouse Pokémon emerged from within as Ash frowned again as he had something in mind for facing him.

"Alright then, Butterfree I choose you!" he released his Bug/Flying-Type into the battle since he remembered his Pokémon's immunity to Ground-Type attacks could help. "Flying vs. Ground should be no problem!"

"That's what you think, watch and learn…" grinned AJ, having his Sandshrew run up towards the Butterfly Pokémon without hesitating.

"Oh really? Butterfree, use Stun Spore now!" ordered Ash, his Pokémon producing yellow powder down towards his opponent though AJ lashed out with his whip in response to that command, having his Ground-Type dig underground to avoid being paralyzed which made Butterfree wonder where it went at first.

"That Sandshrew of his is pretty well trained…" commented Brock, a bit intrigued by how AJ was able to command his Pokémon without telling it what to do.

Misty nodded. "He can translate his orders with the crack of his whip…" Unfortunately the Sandshrew was about to strike as he emerged from the ground, though while AJ is aware that his Pokémon's Ground-Type moves won't do him any good, he has other means of taking down his opponent.

This allowed Sandshrew to grab Butterfree's wings and pin him onto the ground before he or Ash could even react. "You see that? It's not so free anymore" said AJ with a grin on his face but there is no way Ash was going to lose this much.

"We'll see about that, Butterfree, use your Confusion!" he told his Butterfree, causing the Bug's eyes to glow a bright blue which was more than enough to free him from the Ground-Type pinning him down and allowed him to return to the sky_. That was close; I can see why everyone else lost to that guy._

"Boy, this guy sure is nothing to sneeze at!" Anna commented in awe. "I mean, he was able to use a Ground-type attack and tweak it so that it actually reached Butterfree, who is a Flying-type!"

"I know…" Misty answered with a small nod. "I'm afraid that Ash bit off more than he can chew here…"

"In any event, if my brother loses, I'll pick up the fight!" Anna answered in determination. "But I'm sure I won't need to… Ash will figure out a way to take down that Sandshrew of his!"

Ash quickly thought about a way to make the fight more even… and got an idea that might actually work. "Okay then… Butterfree, get down and use a Tackle attack! We're going for a direct hit this time!" he ordered. Butterfree blinked, somewhat confused by the order, but did as he was told anyway and swept down to hit Sandshrew with all of his strength.

AJ chuckled cockily as he saw Butterfree approaching. "Hmph… is that all you can think of? An head-on charge?" he stated. "Then, I really won't have any trouble scoring my 99th win! Sandshrew, hit him with a Scratch attack!"

The Ground-type unsheathed his claws and tried to hit Butterfree the moment the Bug/Flying type was getting closer… but just then, Ash smirked to himself and gave a new order!

"Okay, Butterfree! Now you can use Stun Spore!" Ash exclaimed. Now realizing what his trainer wanted him to do, Butterfree smiled slightly and halted his charge, avoiding Sandshrew's claws as they lashed at him. Then, he moved his wings and sprayed Sandshrew with a cloud of dust-like spores that landed softly on the Ground-type's dry hide. The armadillo-like Pokémon widened his eyes in surprise, and his movements because sluggish and awkward as the spores paralyzed him.

"_Ugh… AJ… this was a trick!_" Sandshrew exclaimed in dismay.

"What?" AJ exclaimed, widening his eyes in disbelief. "Ugh… damn, I've been had like an amateur! You only wanted to make me think you were going for a direct attack!"

Ash smiled, glad things were now going his way in the battle. "Exactly that! It wasn't such a good idea to underestimate me and my Butterfree, now was it?"

"_Just look where it got you!_" the Bug / Flying type said, not resisting the temptation to taunt his opponent a little.

AJ cracked his whip again. "Heh. So you are a better trainer than I gave you credit for. Big deal. It just means we'll have to put more effort into it! Sandshrew!" he cracked his whip again, and the Ground-type managed to overcome his paralysis and curl up into a ball, using a Defense Curl attack to boost his defense.

"Be careful, Ash! I'm sure he has some nasty idea up his sleeve!" Brock warned his younger friend, knowing that Defense Curl had a very dangerous side-effect in case the user also knew another move.

"Don't worry, Brock! My brother has this in the bag!" Anna exclaimed. May and Richie were intently watching the fight, while Relena was not looking so convinced, as she seemed to know the same thing Brock already suspected.

And a moment later, Brock and Relena's fears came true! AJ whipped the ground another time, and Sandshrew, still curled into a ball, rolled towards Butterfree at high speed! The butterfly-like Pokémon widened his eyes in fear and tried to dodge sideways, but Sandshrew jumped up and slammed upon Butterfree, bringing him to the ground!

"Looks like I win…" grinned AJ, though his grin had suddenly faded the moment he suddenly saw Butterfree getting back up, a sign that he hadn't won this battle yet as now Ash was becoming worried since he might actually lose again ."Well would you look at that, it took a direct hit from my Sandshrew and it still thinks it can keep going but why don't you just admit your defeat like a man."

"Butterfree…." Ash was really worried for his Pokémon, he knew that if he was hit one more time from that Rollout attack it would be over and he blamed himself for not sending out his Squirtle, Bulbasaur or Krabby instead as now his first fully-evolved Pokémon is hurt as he was prepared to recall him back into his Pokéball. "I think you need to stop, I can't risk you getting hurt."

'_Ash, I understand that you feel that way but I want to keep fighting even to the very end… please…_' began the Bug/Flying-Type, not so willing to accept defeat especially to some cocky bastard. '_Besides, the paralysis is still in effect and maybe we can find a way to find out when to make our next move…_'

_Ash…_ thought Misty, silently watching the small conversation that was taking place as she was starting to believe that AJ might actually be too strong for him to defeat even with the training he and his Pokémon had during the trek to Vermillion City.

"Still… I…." he saw that look of determination on his Pokémon's face, one similar to what he would have in battle before having been humiliated as it feels like history is about to repeat itself. "Okay, if you want to keep battle, I'll go with whatever decision you make."

Silently nodding his head, Butterfree weakly flew back into the air and this made AJ look disappointed by this decision, still he never fought a trainer like this before still… enough was enough. "You really should have taken my advice and save yourself the humiliation as now you've brought this on yourself!" He cracked his whip once more, leading to Sandshrew curling up into a ball once more and rolled towards Butterfree, which to Anna and the others knew that the Butterfly is going to be down for the count with one more direct hit and Ash knows it too.

"Butterfree, I have an idea and I need you to wait until I give the signal!" he told Butterfree, though they needed to act fast as the Mouse Pokémon was about to collide with him again with the finishing blow. "Alright, use Confusion to stop Sandshrew in its tracks now!"

Butterfree's eyes glowed blue once more as he focused all of his might in order to keep the Ground-Type from hitting him… Fortunately, he was able to stop his opponent just inches away but it won't last forever. "Okay, we need to act fast if we're going to make this work... use your Silver Wind with everything you've got!"

'_Alright, I'll give it a shot!_'He told his trainer, forcing the Sandshrew away from him though the Wild Trainer's Pokémon needed to be close enough for him to make his move as he flapped his wings as fast as he could in order to give it a Silver Wind attack he'll never forget.

This somehow caught AJ off-guard as he saw his Sandshrew crashing onto the ground after being hit by the blunt of that attack and is more than determined not to see his winning streak coming to an end when he's come this far. "Sandshrew, you can't let this amateur beat you!" he said, cracking his whip and wanting his Pokémon to continue fighting only to see that the paralysis was now starting to take its toll on it, causing it to kneel down leaving it vulnerable "Sandshrew!"

"Okay, we need to bring this to an end, use Gust!" commanded Ash, with Butterfree simply complying as they both know he'll have the chance to attack again and they can't allow it to happen. Forming a powerful wind from his wings, this was more than enough to knock Sandshrew off it feet.

"Is it over?" wondered May, hoping that this would end the match for good yet the others were frowning as they were waiting to see what happens especially as they witnessed Sandshrew struggling to get back up though there was nothing but silence as the two opponents glanced at one another…. Then Sandshrew finally fell back down, something that AJ couldn't believe what he was seeing.

Relena saw that AJ's Sandshrew had fainted and gave a slight nod of approval. She then looked to Aurora and said, "Well Father, looks like I made the right call. Not to mention he's learned from Natsuko humiliating him and Taichi overpowering him."

'I agree,' replied Aurora. 'Your friend from Hoenn is in good hands with that young man.'

AJ gritted his teeth as he was in denial that he lost. 'No way. I couldn't have lost. Not to him. No way.'

"I need another Pokémon to challenge these trainers," AJ called to his many other Pokémon.

Three of his many Pokémon came forward, a Butterfree, Beedrill and a Raticate.

'_We're ready to help you out Master AJ,_' said Raticate.

"Good cause we're taking on next person to be my 99th victim," AJ informed the three Pokémon and then pointed to Richie. "Him. Sitting on the weird looking Pokémon."

'I have a name, boy,' Thor informed AJ. 'I'm known as Raikou and my trainer gave me in name Thor.'

Ash silently took a look at his Pokédex to find out a bit more on the Pokémon in question since this is the first time he's going to see Richie in an actual battle. _'__Raikou, the Thunder Pokémon. It is said to have fallen with lightning and can fire thunderbolts from the rain clouds on its back._'

"Thor, huh?" asked AJ. "Maybe you'd be better off with me instead of that loser."

'Sorry, but this 'loser' is my trainer and I won't change my mind,' countered Thor.

"You'll be in over your head," Richie said sternly as he readied a random Pokéball.

"Alright Butterfree, let's take him down!" exclaimed AJ.

'_Yes Master,_' acknowledged Butterfree.

"Go Ginger," countered Richie as threw the female Dragon Pokémon's Pokéball towards AJ's pool.

'_Ready whenever you are Richie,_' said Ginger as the female Seadra was ready for battle.

"Wow, I need to take a look at this…" it was Anna's turn to check her Pokédex to see what kind of Pokémon Richie had let out to the Battlefield.

_Seadra, the Dragon Pokémon._ chirped the Pokédex in its female voice. _Its spines provide protection and its fins and bone are prized as traditional medicine ingredients._

"Ginger?" AJ asked in a mocking tone. "What kind of name is that for a Water-type Pokémon?"

'_Come over here and lemme show you what kind of name it is,_' lashed back Ginger.

"Butterfree use Tackle attack," ordered AJ.

"Ginger, let's show AJ something he won't expect," Richie said to his female Seadra.

'_Ah, this will be fun,_' remarked Ginger as she ducked under the water of the pool and dodged the Butterfree's Tackle attack.

"Come on Butterfree, use your Tackle again," snarled AJ. "Use it when that Seadra comes up."

'_Got it,_' acknowledged Butterfree.

"Ginger, let's give them that not-so friendly surprise," Richie said calmly.

The female shiny Seadra then popped part of her body out of the pool and caught the Butterfree's attention as it twirled it's body around and screamed downward towards Ginger. Ginger however caught the sight of AJ's Butterfree screaming down at her. Right before AJ's Butterfree could connect with his Tackle attack, Ginger then unleashed an unexpected and not-so friendly Dragonbreath attack at the unsuspecting Butterfree in the face. This attack caught the Butterfree, AJ and the others by surprise. The only ones who weren't surprised were Relena, Aurora and Thor.

"Wha? What was that attack?" asked Anna as she was amazed that Ginger could use that attack.

'_What... what did you do... to... m-me?_' AJ's Butterfree demanded to Ginger.

'_Just a little nasty surprise called Dragonbreath,_' Ginger answered slyly. '_I inherited that attack from my father. It causes paralysis, I hope you like the secondary effects._'

'_I'm not paralyzed just yet,_' stammered AJ's Butterfree. '_I will deliver victory 99 for Master AJ._'

"Alright Ginger use Scald on Butterfree," ordered the co-champion of the Atlantica Islands.

"Scald?" asked a surprised AJ in shock. "Th-That's not a real attack. It's not even recognized by the Pokémon League."

"Scald is a recognized attack by the Unova Pokémon League and the Pokémon League in which my girlfriend are from," Richie informed AJ. "Besides, your gym isn't recognized by the Kanto Pokémon League like you advertised."

"Hmm... so technically this isn't being done by the rules of the Kanto Pokémon League," Anna said with a smirk. "That makes that Dragonbreath, Scald and any other attacks not native to Kanto as legal moves to use."

"Iron Tail isn't originally from Kanto either," Relena said to Anna and Ash.

"But it's recognized as an official move by the Kanto League.," countered Brock.

"Enough of your jabbering over there," snapped AJ. "I'm trying to concentrate on claiming my 99th win."

"You're not getting it," Richie said with focus. "Ginger, that Scald attack on his Butterfree..."

'_I'm on it Richie,_' replied Ginger as she shot scalding hot water at AJ's Butterfree.

'_OW! That's scalding hot water!_' shirked AJ's Butterfree.

"Huh? Why does his Butterfree have a burn?" asked a confused Misty. "If Scald is a Water-type move, then how does it inflict a burn?"

"That would be Scald's secondary effect," answered Relena. "Aside from shooting scalding hot water, Scald also inflicts a nasty burn on the opponent's Pokémon too."

'_Ouch, that can't be pleasant at all_,' remarked Pikachu.

'_Yeah, no kidding,_' agreed Clefairy.

AJ's Butterfree couldn't handle burn and fell into the pool water with circles in it's eyes. Relena gave a smirk as knew that her boyfriend had won the match and strode over to make the call and announce the victor.

"Butterfree is unable to battle," announced Relena. "Seadra is the winner and the victory goes to the cutie of mine, Richie."

Richie blushed when Relena had called him her cutie and then gave a flirty wink at him. His face redder than a Cheri Berry before he composed himself and recalled Ginger to her Quick Ball. AJ however was not satisfied that he had lost again. He was thinking about why he had lost.

"Why? Why did I lose?" AJ asked himself aloud and in a demanding tone. "There was no way I could've lost... twice in a row."

"Consider this to be a lesson you should learn," Richie said calmly. "You're not always gonna win every battle. Take what you've learned from these losses and apply them to your training. I know my girlfriend and I had a rough patch on the start of our journey."

AJ closed his eyes as he finally relented and accepted that he lost. With a slight smile he then looked to the group and said, "I guess I should show you around my training gym."

"That would be great, please," Ash said with a smile.

"Good…" AJ said, before recalling his defeated Butterfree. "As for you, Butterfree, take a rest. You did your best, all things considered. Alright… I can show you the gym where I train my Pokémon. Please follow me."

The team followed AJ through a couple doors, before finally getting to a larger room where several instruments, similar to those one might have found in a training gym, were scattered somewhat haphazardly around. A couple Rattata were busy running on a roller, trying to build up their speed and endurance, while a Beedrill was perched upon an elevated step, doing push-ups on her stingers. Several other instruments lay on the ground here and there, but it was obvious that all of them had seen use very recently. Ash, Pikachu and their friends deduced that AJ really took his training seriously.

"Wow… this is organized quite like a real Gym!" Richie commented. "And your Pokémon… even though their training looks tough, they seem to be very determined!"

AJ smiled a little, while taking a look at the training his Pokémon were doing. "Well, that's only to be expected. My Pokémon are willing to give their all for me, because I am willing to do the same in order to become a worthy trainer for them." He explained. "If I weren't willing to go the extra mile, then it wouldn't be fair of me to expect that from my Pokémon. As you're trainers yourselves, that should be easy to understand for you."

"Well… actually, I'm not a trainer yet…" May answered thoughtfully.

AJ blinked a little, surprised at the reveal "Oh? You aren't? I thought you were just the right age to start your Pokémon journey…" he said. "So… you've decided to be a Pokémon coordinator, or something like that?"

"I'm not sure, really…" was May's answer. "I mean, I know it's strange of me to say that, but I've never really been very interested in Pokémon, and I don't know much about training, competitions, and all that. Though… now that I see how training Pokémon is, I guess you could say that I am rethinking my position…"

"Well, I do hope you'll find your way." AJ said, before addressing all the Pokémon that were still training there. "Okay, you guys, you can have a ten-minutes break! Be ready to get back in gear as soon as it's over."

With that, AJ turned off the roller upon which his two Rattata were running, and the mouse-like Pokémon breathed a sigh of relief as they slowed down their run until they could stop. His Beedrill stood upright and stretched, and all the rest of his Pokémon dropped what they were doing and began resting a little. AJ approached a small machine, similar to the ones used by the various Nurses Joy in a Pokémon Center, and put the Pokéballs containing his Sandshrew and his Butterfree in it, before activating it to heal his Pokémon.

"_Wow, have you seen that, guys?_" Anna's Clefairy commented in wonder. "_Such organization… he's even got a medical machine ready!_"

"_I do wonder how he got it…_" Pikachu answered.

In a couple minutes, both Sandshrew and Butterfree were up and running, and AJ let them out of their Pokéballs to resume their training. As soon as the armadillo-like Pokémon had appeared, the young man stared at him, and Sandshrew immediately stood at attention. "Okay, Sandshrew, I won't fault you for that defeat. You obviously did your best and I wasn't expecting that Butterfree to still be standing after taking a Rollout attack. However, we will need to concentrate more on our training to defeat Flying-type Pokémon. Therefore, as soon as training resumes, get ready with the weights. I need you to be able to leap higher."

"_Got it!_" the Ground-type answered.

* * *

While this was all happening, Taichi along with his Scyther and Pinsir were doing some training of their own as to them… they needed to be ready for their next mission though the Team Rocket Admin had other thoughts on his mind. _There was something about that trainer and his Pikachu, why would they fight despite me having had the Advantage?_ He mentally asked himself, then there was that Pokémon who got in the way of him finishing that boy off which made him angry.

Watching the training taking place were a certain trio of thieves. "Man, just look at him… and to think we've been having trouble defeating those twerps while he came close to succeeding in dealing with them" muttered Meowth, thinking back to their past defeats from Mt. Moon to the present.

"Plus he seems angry that his plan with the Squirtle Squad came to an abrupt end and he blames us for interfering…" added James despite not wanting to think of what he would do to them now that he mentioned it.

"Still, we need to show him that we can be just as tough as he is… perhaps a new strategy would need to be made" said Jessie with a scowl on her face, believing that something must be done to fix this problem soon.

"Ahem…" Taichi cleared his throat as he turned his attention to the trio, wanting their attention since he wanted to test something on them. "Have all your Pokémon attack Scyther and make sure they attack him at the same time."

"You're not serious are you?!" exclaimed all three lower-class Rocket members, not wanting to believe what they were hearing since it normally wouldn't seem fair at all.

"I said attack!" he ordered, not wanting all day for them to do so which forced Jessie to unleash her Ekans while James sent out his Koffing and Bellsprout with Meowth joining the fray as all four Pokémon prepared to attack the Bug/Flying-Type. After waiting for them to get in striking position, he closed his eyes before giving another order. "Scyther, use X-Scissor."

_With pleasure master! _grinned Scyther, crossing his scythes which started to glow and he flew towards his four opponents and sliced them in an X-like fashion, causing them to collapse to the ground much to Jessie's and James dismay. _How disappointing…_

"Indeed it is and it looks like you three morons haven't learned a thing about how to deal with your opponents in battle" Taichi gave another scowl as he went back to focusing on his training, though he did leave one last comment. "You need to know when to expect an attack that could potentially lead to your downfall and especially to be ready to counter it should it happen."

"Bastard…" muttered James, not knowing that Taichi heard him and extended his claws close to purple-haired Rocket member's throat.

"I beg your pardon? What did you just say to me?"

"Nothing, nothing…" begged the other male, hoping it would be enough to spare him from death which leads to the Admin, lowering his mechanical hand before leaving the area. "That was close Jess."

"I'll say, still he's right" explained Jessie, while recalling their fallen Pokémon back into their Pokéballs with the exception of Meowth and that they really needed to become stronger if they were going to please Taichi as well as their leader. "Those twerps always seem to get the better of us all the time, so we have to find a way to outsmart them next time we cross paths."

"Good point, even with my new Bellsprout with us we can't seem to win at all" frowned James, nodding his head while starting to understand why Taichi is one of the most feared and nearly unbeatable Team Rocket members, needing to figure out where those kids are headed next in order to be ready for them.

"Might, I give a suggestion Jimmy-Boy…." muttered Meowth, barely able to move let alone speak as they would soon notice something nearby.

A plume of dust and smoke came from AJ's gym got their attention as the dastardly trio then gave each other an evil grin as they guessed Ash and his friends were in the area where the dust and smoke plume came. The Rocket admin was relaxing by himself and looking at a picture of a petite young woman with blonde hair in a revealing two piece bikini and giving a sexy and flirty wink to the photographer and did not notice Jessie, James and Meowth sneaking away. His Scyther was busy with meditation with little success of achieving peace in his mind. Being defeated by an Ice/Ghost Pokémon from the Sinnoh region and an Electric-type Pokémon from Unova really pissed him off and made him angry. Pinsir was also meditating as well but was doing much better when he noticed his partner was very upset and then drove his large claw into the ground making Taichi and Pinsir get startled when he drove his claw into ground out of anger.

'_Damn it, damn it, DAMN IT!_' snarled Taichi's Scyther in anger.

Taichi looked to his Scyther and studied him with a smirk on his face. "I hope that your losses will motivate you to work harder," he said without any sympathy to his Bug/Flying Pokémon.

'_Oh, I'm motivated alright,_' snapped Scyther. '_Next time I see those two Pokémon that made a fool out of me, I'll kill them._'

Taichi gave a slight nod of approval to Scyther's declaration. He was glad to hear that his Pokémon had come back to his senses and was ready to fight at the drop of a coin. "You'll need that kind of spirit once we track down those brats, for now they will have to wait" he said to his Scyther as he set his hand on the Mantis' shoulder. "My friend, we'll get you back to your old self once again."

'_We should think about going back and dealing with those wretched Pokémon Pinchers,_' suggested Scyther.

"After Giovanni has complete control of Kanto and we've dealt a fatal blow to those Pokémon Rangers, then we'll return and deal with those Pokémon Pinchers," Taichi said to Scyther. "Then again, there is something about that boy with the Pikachu that has somehow piped my interest… no matter; we'll deal with him later."

A single female petite figure headed towards the campsite where her lover and the three idiots he had under his command were. Giovanni was apprehensive about letting join her lover just to take care of a few trainers, but he had gotten the report that two trainers with powerful Pokémon were aiding them in their travels. She was requested to help him take down the two powerful trainers and take their Pokémon if possible. The young woman was getting bored with the jobs that she was doing and she was thankful that the leader of Team Rocket granted Taichi's request to allow her to join him. She had a feeling that there might be another reason why the Admin wanted her to join him and gave a smirk at the reason why Taichi wanted her there. Before rejoining her lover, she decided to follow Jessie, James and Meowth.

* * *

"So, you're all heading to Vermillion City, eh?" asked AJ. "Well ya all gonna have to go through the Underground Tunnel. Just a few miles from here, you'll find the entrance to the Underground Tunnel."

Ash gave a slight nod to AJ as he acknowledged the directions AJ was giving him and the rest of the group. AJ was then interested and wondered what kind of Pokémon Relena and Richie had besides Aurora, Thor, Ginger and Sparky. Both Relena and Richie were a bit hesitant at first to show their other Pokémon but showed AJ and the others their Pokémon. As show-and-tell was about to begin, everyone heard an explosion outside and caused the couple from the Atlantica Islands to quickly recall their Pokémon. AJ narrowed his eyes at the three who abruptly entered his gym. Ash and May narrowed their eyes at the trio from Team Rocket as they were up to no good once more. Jessie, James and Meowth then said their motto for Team Rocket which annoyed everyone when they said their motto.

"Can't you three losers get lost?" demanded Anna as she didn't want to see them after so many run-ins with them.

"You don't get to tell us what to do twerp girl," shot back Jessie. "Besides you know why we're here. Hand over all your Pokémon and we won't kill you."

The only response was silence and glares from Ash and everyone else in defiance at the trio from Team Rocket. May however had a look of worry as she moved behind Ash and gently set a hand on Ash's shoulder as she hid behind Ash.

'That's pretty bad,' Aurora said calmly to the trio. 'You should be ashamed of yourselves. Having to resort to threatening these children with death. How low must you go?'

"We'll do what we have to do to get what we want," snarled Meowth. "If we have to kill to steal from a twerp in our way, then so be it."

"Not at my gym, you're not," lashed back AJ as he snapped his fingers to get his Pokémon to come out.

AJ's Pokémon came out were ready to aid the group and made the Team Rocket trio uneasy. Jessie and James tried to put on a brave face as James was first to throw both of his Pokéballs against AJ.

"Let's go Koffing and Bellsprout," James said with urgency in his voice. "Let's get a victory for the boss."

AJ snorted as he saw James was desperate to get a win and willing to cheat to get it.

"Fine then, I'll take ya down myself," AJ lashed at James as he cracked his whip for Sandshrew to fight against Koffing and Bellsprout.

"Are you sure using Sandshrew is a good idea?" Relena asked AJ. "That Koffing has the Levitate ability."

AJ gave a grin to the female champion of the Atlantica Islands as he knew what he was doing.

**[Cue Beauty As The Beast from Mondaiji-taichi www. youtube dot com/ watch?feature = endscreen &v=MRhzw9J20Ac&NR=1]**

"Go for it Sandshrew," AJ said as he cracked his whip and the Ground-Type Mouse Pokémon used it's Rapid Spin attack and effectively knocked James's Bellsprout in one attack leaving Koffing alone to deal with the Ground-Type. "Alright! And now… go for it! That Koffing shouldn't give you too many problems!"

"Oh, we'll just have to see about that!" James exclaimed. "Come on, Koffing, use Smog on that Sandshrew!"

"_With pleasure!_" the Poison-type Pokemon exclaimed. He opened his mouth and shot a cloud of noxious grey smoke, but Sandshrew wasn't damaged too badly, thanks to the Ground type's resistance to Poison-type moves. Sandshrew quickly swatted the attack aside and countered by jumping up and delivering a Scratch attack to Koffing's face, causing the balloon-like Pokemon to stagger. With a shrug, Koffing got in position once again and used Tackle to knock Sandshrew to the ground, but once again, the Ground-type was quick to react and got his guard up once again.

AJ hit the ground with his whip, giving another of his silent orders to his Pokemon, and the armadillo-like Pokemon literally dived into the ground, tunneling through it as if he was swimming in clear water… and James laughed mockingly at that, knowing that a Ground-type attack would have no effect on his Pokemon.

"Hahaha! Hey, pal, are you dumb or what?" James laughed. "You should know that a Ground-type attack is completely useless! My Koffing's Levitate ability makes him immune to this kind of attack!"

AJ smirked confidently. "Oh, yeah? Well, that's exactly what that guy thought when he sent his Butterfree against my Sandshrew! Let me show you why he was proven wrong!"

With a burst of speed, Sandshrew exploded out of the ground right below Koffing and leapt up, high enough to reach the floating Poison-type and grab him in his claws. As Koffing thrashed around in surprise, hoping to shrug off that irritant, Sandshrew used a Rapid Spin attack to further confuse him, and then used a Fury Swipes attack in order to score as many hits as possible on Koffing before he was thrown down once again. Koffing finally managed to get free, but not before Sandshrew had dealt him an enormous hit to his confidence!

"Damn, I can't believe this!" Meowth exclaimed incredulously. "That guy has actually taught his Sandshrew to jump high enough to reach a flying opponent?"

"Let it never be said that hard work does not bear fruit." AJ answered, while Koffing's Tackle was blocked by Sandshrew. "My Pokemon and I work together to cover each other's weak points, and we make each and every battle a team effort! Just like Ash and his friends do! You guys, instead, only try to hit as hard as you can… that's not the way you win a Pokemon battle!"

AJ cracked his whip again, and Sandshrew curled into a ball and barreled towards James' Koffing at high speed, hitting the floating Pokemon dead center and causing him to sway dangerously in midair. He tried another Tackle attack, but Sandshrew managed to dodge and execute another, much stronger Rollout that knocked out Koffing and sent him crashing, battered and weary, on the ground.

AJ smirked in victory. "And that's my 99th victory!" he exclaimed proudly. "So, anyone of you buffoons wants to be my final victim?"

"_Awwww…_" the dazzled Koffing murmured. "_I'm sorry; James… this guy is too tough for me…_"

"Its okay, Koffing… you did your best, and that's what counts…" James gently consoled his Pokemon as he recalled him in his Pokéball. "Alright then… I guess it's your turn now, Jessie."

"Ekans and I will not be caught off guard that easily!" the fuchsia-haired young woman answered quickly. "C'mon, Ekans, I know you can do this!"

"_As you wish, misssstresssss!_" the snake-like Pokemon hissed as he popped out of his Pokeball, waving his rattle-like tail before glaring at Sandshrew. "_Ssssso… you sssseem to know quite a few trickssss… but I can assssure you, it won't be enough to deal with me!_"

"Talk's cheap. Show me what you can do." AJ cut him off, before cracking his whip once again. Sandshrew used another Dig attack, and dove underground to hit Ekans from below… but this time, the snake-like Pokemon was well prepared to deal with this.

"_Two can play at that game._" He hissed, before quickly diving underground and using his own Dig attack. AJ widened his eyes in surprise, and the two combatants met halfway and caused a large explosion, sending debris and dust all around as the two Pokemon leapt out of the ground, engaging in a furious struggle! Ekans was able to wrap his body around Sandshrew's and began squeezing, his Wrap attack denying Sandshrew of a chance to counter!

"Hohohohooo! How do you like that?" Jessie laughed. "My Ekans just happened to know Dig as well… and that Wrap attack will really put some serious hurt on your Pokemon, no doubt about that! I've got you in a tight spot this time!"

"Really? We'll see about that soon enough!" AJ answered, while the snake Pokemon continued squeezing with all of his strength. AJ nodded to his Sandshrew, who quickly got his act together and used a Rapid Spin attack, spinning on himself while hitting Ekans with his short claws. The snake-like Pokemon hissed in pain and surprise, and was forced to relinquish his vice-like grip on the Ground-type, who quickly rolled away from his opponent and brought his guard up yet again.

"_That hurt!_" Ekans hissed. "_You're going to pay for thissss!_"

"_Sorry, I don't have money._" Sandshrew answered, motioning for the snake to come forward in a "bring it" gesture.

"Grrrr… you think you're smart, don't you?" Jessie exclaimed in anger. "Ekans, use Acid!"

"_Right away, misssstressss!_" Ekans hissed, before taking a deep breath and shooting a squirt of purple burning acid at Sandshrew. AJ nodded at his Pokemon, who used Dig just in time and dodged the jet of burning liquid, who landed on the floor and caused a cloud of noxious white vapor and an hissing sound, but left Sandshrew unharmed. Then, with a sudden sprint, the armadillo-like Pokemon dashed towards his opponent and struck with all of his might, sending Ekans flying back to his trainer, and leaving him laying there in a daze!

"Aaaargh! This is the worst!" Jessie exclaimed, seeing Ekans slump to the ground with his eyes turning into swirls. She sighed and recalled Ekans in the Pokéball, while Sandshrew turned to AJ and gave a thumbs up!

"If you want something done right, you gotta do it yourself…" muttered Meowth with a scowl, deciding to get involved himself and got his claws ready to do some serious scratching on his opponent. However Sandshrew curled up into a ball once more in order to use his Defense Curl to protect himself from the upcoming Fury Swipes attack. "What gives?! If that's the way you want it then take that!"

Meowth soon chases after the still rolled up Mouse Pokemon, like he was a kitten playing with a ball of yarn though Jessie found it to be really annoying as this was suppose to be a battle. "Stop pussyfooting around!" she yelled, wanting Meowth to attack not act like a little kitten.

"I wasn't pussyfooting; I was just biding my time…" It was then that the Scratch Cat prepared to do a bite attack on the Ground-Type which like with the Fury Swipes attack, it proved to be ineffective and resulted in some of his teeth getting broken instead. "Aaaaahhhh! The moment of tooth!"

"Finish it, Sandshrew use your Fissure!" ordered AJ, cracking his whip once more and watches as the Sandshrew jumped into the air then dove down with one fist raised down in top speed while spinning around towards the Rocket trio with Ash and co wondering what kind of attack Fissure is. "Go Sandshrew, pound on the ground till it splits!" Upon landing on the ground, a fissure began affecting the entire battlefield.

This move not only knocked Meowth out with a single hit, the tremor also caused the field to shatter to pieces, resulting in the trio falling through. "You've won this round but next time things will turn out differently! yelled James while plummeting until a loud thump was heard.

"We did it Sandshrew! We finally reached victory number 100!" AJ was so relieved that he has achieved his goal, though not the way he had intended to get it but a win's a win as the counter went from 99 to 100. "Today all our sacrifices and hard work have finally paid off, now we can start winning our badges."

Ash and the others were glad for him; in fact… they could see that he really does care for his Pokemon despite the rough training that he has given them, who knows? Maybe they could battle him again when they eventually get to the Pokemon League. "Would you look at that…" smiled Anna, finding it to be a touching moment.

"I know, guess we should give him the benefit of the doubt huh?" said Ash, which May and Misty nodded to agree with him that AJ wasn't such a bad person as they originally thought.

* * *

Jessie, James and Meowth gritted their teeth and were about to charge at AJ and the group as they were still going to try charge at them to steal their Pokémon while they were too busy interacting with one another. Before they could get halfway to the group, someone had thrown a black tulip to stop them in their tracks. The dastardly trio looked up to see the other one person that they didn't wish to see other than Taichi. She was known as the Black Tulip and her name was Domino.

"So, what were you three good-for-nothing about to do? I thought I'd have seen it by now that those kids are not to be trifled with." The blond girl said in a mocking tone, flashing a small smile at Team Rocket.

James gritted his teeth in disappointment, while Jessie tried to advance towards the young Team Rocket agent. "What do you think you're doing here, Domino?" she asked, glaring at the younger girl, who just smirked and rubbed her nose.

"Why, glad to see you too, Jessie." Domino mocked. "What I think I'm doing is stop you three from further disgracing yourselves, and ordering you to retreat. Taichi is not happy about your failure, and he'd like to have a few words with you. If you know what's good for you, you will drop whatever you're doing and come with me."

Jessie tried to object, but Meowth raised a paw and signaled for her to drop the issue. "Y'know, Jessie, Domino is right, as much as I hate the idea." The cat-like Pokemon stated. "Taichi won't be happy that we have failed to capture that Pikachu once again… and we don't want to make it even worse! You know that Domino and Taichi are… quite friendly to each other."

"Yeah… though it still amazes me how those two could get along so well…" James murmured to himself, keeping his voice low so that Domino couldn't hear him. Then, he cleared his throat and sighed in defeat. "Alright, Domino, we're coming. I just want to say that we were close to catching that Pikachu now…"

"Close doesn't cut it, my dear James." Domino sighed. "While I do appreciate the effort, you know how Giovanni is a stickler for efficiency. And now, let's not waste anymore time. Let's go."

With that, the trio and the blonde acrobat-thief ran away, leaving AJ's Gym behind to reflect on their failure…

* * *

Only a few hours later, Ash and his friends were ready to continue their journey, and were now in the process of saying goodbye to AJ and his Pokemon. Ash's Butterfree and AJ's Sandshrew were shaking hands, promising each other a rematch if they were to meet each other in the future, and both Ash and Anna were doing the same with AJ himself.

"Well, it was a pleasure to meet you… and in the end, I guess I learned something too!" Ash stated, energetically shaking the older boy's hand. "I hope we can meet again sometime. I would like to have a rematch with you!"

"Likewise! And this time, I'm going to win!" AJ said. "Good luck, Ash and Anna! I think you'll go far as Pokemon trainers!"

"Thank you! I think the same about you!" Anna answered with a wink. "We hope to see you again soon, possibly at the Kanto Championship!"

"You bet, so long…" grinned AJ, bidding the group of Pokemon Trainers farewell with his Sandshrew accompanying him on the start of his journey and the others had to admit, under that cocky personality, he shows that he does indeed understand what it means to be a trainer.

"He's tough but pretty cool" Misty spoke with a smile on her face, having a feeling this won't be the last they will see of AJ for a while.

Brock nodded at the red-haired Gym Leader's remark on the Wild Pokemon Trainer. "Yeah, looks like Ash just found another rival" he added, which made Ash more determined to see how their next battle will go someday.

Butterfree flew onto Ash's head and they knew that the raven-haired trainer will train hard to become the greatest Pokemon Master ever, with the path that they are currently following as the seven trainers soon began continuing their trek towards Vermilion City.

* * *

"So, there is no other alternative?" asked Taichi, speaking to his leader face to face in a secret room in order for their conversation to remain private and the older man had a scowl on his face during this chat.

"I'm afraid so, I have a task for you and Domino within Vermillion City itself… Here is what I want you to do…" began the mysterious Giovanni, preparing to give Taichi is newest assignment as his scowl turned into an evil grin with his Persian appearing next to its master.

As this was going on, Scyther and Pinsir were quite edger to this new assignment as being around the trio of idiots can be both bore some and annoying as well… They needed to see if there was anyone worth fighting when the time comes to get involved, though that Pikachu belonging to the raven-haired boy who Taichi had battled when the Squirtle Squad was briefly under their command piped their interest

_Perhaps if we're lucky, I can take on that Pikachu again… he seems to be rather different than most of my previous victims… _thought Scyther, a sadistic grin formed on his face at this and that their next confrontation should be more interesting provided that no one was to interfere like that shiny Elektross did. _Next time we meet, I will enjoy killing you._

A/Ns: Well here it is… Hope you enjoy it and I again apologize for having the events of the episodes out of order, still I have to admit I don't hate AJ but someone should have at least taken him down a notch and show him that victory isn't everything. Oh well… Hopefully this will make up for that.


End file.
